Meta Platforms Inc. (META) is turning its AI assistant into something more useful than a chatbot that tells you fun facts. The social media giant announced it's expanding Meta AI to deliver real-time content across news, entertainment, lifestyle, and basically everything people actually want to know about right now.

Here's how it works: when you ask Meta AI a news-related question, the system pulls information and links from a growing network of media partners. The goal is helping people discover timely, relevant content that matches their interests, while actually sending traffic back to the original publishers. That last part matters, considering the tension between tech platforms and news organizations over who benefits when AI systems scrape their content.

Meta is launching this expansion with partnerships that span the political spectrum and content types. The initial lineup includes CNN, Fox News, Fox Sports, Le Monde Group, the People Inc. media portfolio, The Daily Caller, The Washington Examiner, USA TODAY, and the USA TODAY Network. More partnerships are planned as Meta builds out the platform.

This represents a notable shift from previous battles between Meta and news publishers. The company and peers like Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) faced criticism for using publisher content without compensation. Online content creators have been sounding alarms about AI technology risks since chatbots arrived on the scene, worried about getting cut out of the value chain entirely.

By linking directly to partner articles, Meta is at least attempting to drive traffic and audiences to the original sources. Whether that generates meaningful revenue for publishers remains to be seen, but it's more than the zero-sum approach of just scraping content and providing answers without attribution.

Meta says it wants to make Meta AI more responsive, accurate, and balanced. Real-time events are notoriously difficult for AI systems to handle well, but pulling from diverse news sources should help deliver timely content with multiple perspectives across different formats. The company frames this as part of its broader mission to provide valuable experiences for users, which is corporate speak for "we want people to actually use this thing."

Meta AI Gains Traction as Users Find Practical Applications

People are finding reasons to engage with Meta AI beyond novelty. Users are tapping the tool to generate ideas, edit and animate media, explore topics, find creative inspiration, and handle various tasks. As the platform develops, Meta continues testing new AI experiences to unlock value across its services.

The $1.7 trillion company has seen its shares climb 13% year-to-date. Meta is making a clear strategic pivot, scaling back metaverse spending while accelerating AI ambitions to deliver shareholder value. Turns out investors prefer artificial intelligence that people actually use over virtual worlds that mostly remain empty.

Metaverse Takes a Back Seat as AI Gets the Budget

The numbers tell the story of Meta's shifting priorities. The company plans to slash up to 30% from its metaverse group budget in 2026, affecting projects like Horizon Worlds and Quest. Potential layoffs could begin as soon as January.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg requested 10% cuts across all divisions, but the virtual reality segment faces deeper reductions due to slower-than-expected adoption. When people aren't rushing to hang out in virtual reality, it's hard to justify the spending levels that made sense during peak metaverse hype.

Massive AI Investments and Strategic Hires

While cutting metaverse spending, Meta is going all-in on AI and hardware infrastructure. The company is committing over $600 billion through 2028 to expand next-generation AI infrastructure, build out data centers, and strengthen workforce capabilities. That's not a typo—$600 billion represents one of the most aggressive capital deployment strategies in tech history.

Meta also brought in Apple Inc. (AAPL) veteran Alan Dye as chief design officer to strengthen its consumer hardware and AI initiatives. Dye spent years shaping Apple's design language, and his hiring signals Meta's serious intent to compete on hardware quality and user experience, not just software capabilities.

META Price Action: Meta Platforms shares were up 0.22% at $662.97 during premarket trading on Friday.