Meta AI gains voice, photo editing, and translation at Connect

Meta used its Connect conference to roll out a slate of AI upgrades across Messenger, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram: two-way voice conversations with a choice of voices including celebrity options, photo understanding and editing in chat, background replacement, and AI-generated selfies through the Imagine Yourself feature in Feed, Stories, and profiles.

Automatic video dubbing with lip syncing for Reels is in testing with U.S. and Latin American creators, aimed at making content accessible across languages.

Meta says its AI assistant is nearing 500 million monthly users and on track to be the world's most-used AI assistant by year end, a claim critics note is helped by its placement across every Meta app.

For businesses, the Reels dubbing test is the sleeper feature: automatic translated, lip-synced versions of short videos could open non-English markets without reshoots, though quality and brand voice still need a human check before publishing.