Meta announced that, after a short delay, it has begun rolling out some AI features to users of Ray-Ban Meta AR in Europe, including France, Italy, and Spain.
Starting today, users in these countries can activate Meta’s AI assistant, Meta AI, using their voice to get answers to general questions (e.g., “What are some good gift ideas for my 6- and 8-year-olds?”). Meta AI now supports French, Italian, and Spanish, in addition to English, as part of the update, Meta said.
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“Since our launch in September 2023, we have worked diligently to ensure that Ray-Ban Meta eyewear complies with Europe’s complex regulatory system,” the company wrote in a blog post. “We are excited to begin bringing Meta AI and its innovative features to EU regions and look forward to expanding to more European countries soon.”
The upgrade won’t include the multimedia features available on Ray-Ban Meta glasses in the U.S., Canada, and Australia — specifically, the ability to get answers to questions about what’s visible on the glasses’ camera (e.g., “Tell me more about this attraction”). Meta says it’s working to expand multimodality to more countries “in the future.”.
Read also: Meta: Preview of Artificial Intelligence Features in Ray-Ban Smart Glasses
Meta has expressed concerns about its ability to comply with the AI Act, the EU law that sets out a legal and regulatory framework for artificial intelligence — calling the law’s implementation “particularly unpredictable.” In addition, the company faces issues with the provisions of the GDPR, the EU’s privacy law, regarding AI training. Meta trains AI models, including those that power the Ray-Ban Meta glasses, with public data from Instagram and Facebook users who have not opted out — data that is protected by the GDPR in Europe.
EU regulators earlier this year asked Meta to stop training on European user data while they assessed the company's compliance with GDPR. Meta complied, while also supporting an open letter calling for "a modern interpretation" of GDPR that does not "hold back progress.".
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In early fall, Meta said it would restart training on UK user data after “incorporating” regulatory feedback into a revised opt-out process. However, the company has yet to provide an update on the training across the union.
Source: techcrunch
