Last month at Meta Connect, Mark Zuckerberg said that Meta AI was “on track” to become the most used generative AI assistant in the world. The company has now reached an important milestone toward that goal: Meta AI has surpassed 500 million users, Zuckerberg announced during the company's most recent conference call.

The half-billion user mark comes just under a year after the social network first launched its AI assistant last fall. Zuckerberg said the company still expects to become the “most used” assistant by the end of 2024, although he never elaborated on how the company measures that metric.

Meta's Assistant isn't the only AI tool boosting the company's business. Zuckerberg said AI improvements in his feed and video recommendations have led to an 8 percent increase in time spent on Facebook and a 5 percent increase on Instagram this year. Advertisers are also using the company's AI tools, he said. Last month alone, more than 15 million ads were created using generative AI. “We think there’s a lot more potential here,” Zuckerberg said.

Outside of AI, Meta's Threads app also continues to rise. According to Zuckerberg, the service now has “nearly 275 million” monthly users. “There are more than a million signups per day,” Zuckerberg said, adding that “engagement is also increasing.”