Meta is trying to catch up with ChatGPT with new AI chatbots that speak like famous figures including Abraham Lincoln, report says

• Meta could soon be launching AI chatbots that speak like famous people including Abraham Lincoln.
• The chatbots with ” personas” could come as soon as next month, the Financial Times reported.
• CEO Mark Zuckerberg is hoping to retain users by introducing chatbots that rival ChatGPT.

Meta is exploring plans to launch AI chatbots as soon as next month that imitate famous figures, including Abraham Lincoln, as it scrambles to retain users and see off the threat from ChatGPT, a new report says.

The social-media giant has been trialing chatbots with distinct “personas” as a means of boosting engagement from its billions of users, the Financial Times reported citing three people familiar with the matter. 

One persona being explored involves a surfer who offers tips on people’s travel plans, the report said. CEO Mark Zuckerberg is, famously, a keen surfer.

The chatbots come after the exploding popularity of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which signaled that consumers are fascinated by the possibilities of conversational artificial intelligence. ChatGPT’s success cast a shadow over big tech incumbents, which are now under pressure to produce their own competing services.

Mark Zuckerberg has looked to step up the company’s AI ambitions this year. In March, Zuckerberg declared that Meta’s “single largest investment is in advancing AI.” In July, the company launched a new AI model alongside called Llama 2, offering developers a free alternative to OpenAI’s pay-to-play GPT-4 large language model.

However, Meta has lacked a more consumer-facing, engaging interface like ChatGPT or Snapchat’s My AI chatbot. 

The FT report added that the chatbots will aim to offer users fresh search functions as well as recommendations. It isn’t clear whether the chatbots will be available across all of Meta’s platforms, which include Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp. 

During an earnings call last week, Zuckerberg noted that there were “some groundbreaking AI products in the pipeline,” with the technology already paying dividends as AI-recommended content has driven a 7% increase in overall time spent on Facebook by users.

Meta did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.