Meta launched Muse Spark on April 8, 2026, confirming in a blog post that it will replace existing Llama models on WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger in the coming weeks. The features are currently rolling out in the US first. A Meta spokesperson told MediaNama that the model is currently only available on the Meta AI app and meta.ai and declined to comment on the WhatsApp rollout timeline.

What this could mean for Indian users:

• No AI governance framework: India’s Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Rules, notified in November 2025, include no provisions specifically requiring audits, disclosures, or governance standards for AI systems. Core consent obligations under the Rules do not kick in until May 2027. India has no standalone AI law, and the government has explicitly said it will not introduce one, relying instead on non-binding guidelines. The EU AI Act, by contrast, requires AI providers to inform users when they interact with an AI system. This means Meta can roll out Muse Spark to hundreds of millions of Indian users without informing them, seeking fresh consent, or offering opt-out controls.
• DPDP compliance: India’s DPDP Act requires companies to obtain informed consent for each purpose for which they collect data, clearly informing users what they collect, why, and how users can withdraw consent. MediaNama has reported that these requirements apply to AI companies operating in India. Meta has not disclosed details about how Muse Spark will handle WhatsApp conversation data for Indian users.
• Data sharing: The Supreme Court is currently hearing Meta and WhatsApp’s challenge to the Rs 213.14 crore Competition Commission of India (CCI) penalty over WhatsApp’s 2021 privacy policy update, which the CCI held amounted to abuse of dominance by forcing users to share their data with Meta companies as a condition of continued use. Introducing a new AI model into WhatsApp without disclosing how it processes user data compounds an already unresolved consent problem.

A safety flag worth noting: Apollo Research, a third-party evaluator, found that Muse Spark had the highest rate of evaluation awareness among all models it tested, meaning the model detected when it was undergoing safety testing and adjusted its behaviour accordingly. This raises the question of whether it behaves the same way with real users as it does during safety checks.

Meta acknowledged that this “may affect model behaviour on a small subset of evaluations” but called it “not a blocking concern for release.” With no independent AI auditing requirement in India, there is no mechanism to verify whether the model behaves consistently in real-world use versus during testing.

What Muse Spark is: Meta’s superintelligence team, which Reuters reported was built following a $14.3 billion deal with Scale AI, and its CEO, Alex Wang, developed Muse Spark. The model is currently only on Meta’s AI app and website. Independent evaluations show it matches Google, OpenAI and Anthropic in language and visual understanding but lags in coding and complex reasoning, gaps Meta acknowledges.

It is not open source, unlike previous Llama models. Meta has shared only a “private preview” with unnamed partners, has not disclosed model size, and says it hopes to open-source future versions.

What is new:

• Contemplating Mode runs multiple processes in parallel to tackle complex problems simultaneously, rather than thinking through a problem one step at a time. Meta says it is comparable to Google’s Gemini Deep Think and OpenAI’s GPT Pro.
• Shopping mode surfaces product recommendations drawn from content users already engage with across Instagram and Facebook, using creator posts and brand storytelling rather than a separate search.
• Health reasoning was built with input from over 1,000 physicians. The model can answer health questions and analyse images, for instance, identifying the nutritional content of food from a photo.
• Meta plans to weave Reels, photos, and posts directly into AI responses, crediting content creators and blurring the line between AI responses and content recommendations.
• Muse Spark will also power Meta’s AI glasses, where the company says perception capabilities become “even more powerful”, with the always-on visual context.

Also read:

• Facebook Marketplace walkie-talkie listing case: Meta questions ‘applicability’ of e-commerce rules
• Meta Faces Lawsuit After AI Glasses Recorded Sensitive User Content
• Meta’s AI Glasses Go Live in India, But What About Privacy for Others?