Meta on Tuesday launched a standalone app for its Meta AI assistant, marking a significant step in CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s efforts to strengthen the company’s foothold in the increasingly competitive artificial intelligence space.

The new app, separate from Meta’s core platforms—Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger—is aimed at boosting usage of the virtual assistant by offering users a more personalized experience. The assistant will tailor responses based on contextual and account-specific data from Facebook and Instagram.

Meta AI is powered by the company’s latest large language model, Llama 4, which boasts enhanced reasoning abilities, multilingual support, and improved efficiency. The model is designed to rival leading AI systems developed by OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, and Deepseek.

The app will also integrate with Meta’s AI-powered smart glasses and replace the current companion app used with the wearable device, the company said.

The launch coincides with Meta’s first-ever developer conference focused solely on artificial intelligence, dubbed “LlamaCon,” where the company will showcase its Llama AI model family and future plans in the AI domain.

While the Meta AI assistant has been available within Meta’s suite of apps since its launch in September 2023, the standalone version underscores the company’s broader ambitions to compete directly with AI offerings from Microsoft-backed OpenAI and Google.

Meta is also preparing to test a paid subscription service for advanced versions of its AI assistant in the second quarter, although sources say significant revenue from the offering is unlikely before 2026.

Meta is scheduled to release its first-quarter earnings report after markets close on Wednesday.