News about TikTok and AI updates helped social media stocks rise.
shares of meta platform (meta 2.09%) It was increasing today. The social media giant appears to be benefiting from the expected bill against TikTok, announcing the latest version of its Llama Large-Scale Language Model (LLM) and also updating its Meta AI assistant.
As of 1:24 p.m. ET, the stock was up 2% on the news, after rising as much as 3.7% in early trading.
Image source: Getty Images.
meta becomes advantageous
In recent months, social media stocks such as Meta have been moving on news of a possible ban or forced sale of the popular China-based social media app TikTok, but now that bill looks more real than ever. It’s starting to feel like it.
House Speaker Mike Johnson reportedly plans to include legislation in his aid bill for Ukraine and Israel that would ban TikTok and force owner ByteDance to sell its US ownership.
Separately, Meta also announced several new artificial intelligence (AI) products, indicating that it remains a contender in the generative AI space. The company has released its latest LLM, Llama 3, and an image generator that updates images in real time. These tools will be included in Meta AI, a free AI assistant available for Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger.
Can the meta continue to win?
TikTok’s development is complex and even if a ban is passed this issue could take years in court, but there is no doubt that TikTok is currently its closest competitor and Meta will certainly pass the law. There may be some benefit from this. Meta has invested heavily in TikTok competitor Reels to increase engagement on platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
Furthermore, if AI capabilities improve, investors are likely to cheer. While Meta doesn’t have a direct way to monetize its generative AI efforts, being able to encourage users to spend more time on the platform should increase ad revenue and improve its competitiveness. Meta is expected to continue investing in AI, as the new technology is still in its infancy.
Randi Zuckerberg is a former head of market development and spokesperson at Facebook, sister of Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and a member of the Motley Fool’s board of directors. Jeremy Bowman has a meta role on his platform. The Motley Fool owns a position in and recommends Meta Platform. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
