Meta Platforms (META) announced earlier today that it will begin using public content from users in the European Union to help train its artificial intelligence models. However, the social media giant emphasized that private messages and data from users under 18 will not be included. Starting this week, users on Facebook and Instagram in the EU will be notified of the data collection, and Meta said it has made it easy for people to opt out.
The company explained that training AI with data from Europe is important in order to build models that are better suited for the region’s unique characteristics. Indeed, Meta wants its AI to better understand the various European dialects, cultural nuances, and how humor and sarcasm are different across each country. This type of understanding will become especially important as AI technology branches out into voice, images, and video.
It is worth noting that Meta has already used public content in other regions to train its AI and mentioned that other tech companies like Google (GOOGL) and Microsoft-backed OpenAI (MSFT) have done the same in Europe. However, Meta added that it believes its approach is more transparent than many others. Furthermore, the company’s main AI model, Llama, recently launched new versions and will be featured at its upcoming developer event, LlamaCon, on April 29.
Is META Stock a Good Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on META stock based on 42 Buys, three Holds, and one Sell assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. Furthermore, the average META price target of $733.67 per share implies 37.5% upside potential.
