KEY TAKEAWAYS: Meta is developing a highly personalized AI assistant designed to perform everyday tasks for users. The assistant is powered by Meta’s new Muse Spark AI model and is currently being tested internally. Meta is also building an AI shopping agent for Instagram, with a launch targ eted before the fourth quarter. The company recently increased its capital spending forecast, signaling continued investment in AI infrastructure and tools.   Meta is building a highly personalized artificial intelligence assistant to carry out everyday tasks for its billions of users, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, as the company faces investor scrutiny over its escalating AI spending. The social media giant is developing agentic tools, including an advanced digital assistant powered by its new Muse Spark AI model, the FT said, citing people familiar with the matter. The assistant is being tested internally by a group of staff and the goal was to develop a product similar to OpenClaw, according to the report. OpenClaw, an open-source project supported by OpenAI, can connect several hardware and software tools and learn from the data produced with much less human intervention than a chatbot. Separately, The Information reported that Meta is training an internal AI agent codenamed “Hatch,” inspired by OpenClaw, with the goal of completing internal testing by the end of June. Meta plans to integrate the separate agentic shopping tool into its Instagram service and is targeting a launch before the fourth quarter of this year, according to The Information. Meta did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The Facebook and Instagram parent raised its annual capital spending forecast late last month, signaling plans to pour billions more into AI infrastructure even as it confronts potential losses from a global youth backlash against social media.  (Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Tasim Zahid) ...read more read less