Meta is developing an AI assistant named Hatch to rival OpenClaw, completing internal testing by the end of June

According to a May 5 report by the Financial Times, Meta is developing an AI assistant for everyday consumers (Hatch), inspired by OpenAI’s OpenClaw. The goal is to complete internal testing by the end of June. Meta also plans to integrate an independent agentic shopping tool into its Instagram service before the fourth quarter of this year.

Hatch AI assistant development progress

According to a report by The Information, Hatch is currently being developed using Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4.6 and Claude Sonnet 4.6 models, and will switch to Meta’s latest Muse Spark model at the time of official release. To test Hatch’s capabilities, Meta has built a “sandbox” environment that includes real websites such as DoorDash, Etsy, and Reddit, with a focus on strengthening the agent’s autonomous decision-making and cross-conversation memory. Internal testing is expected to begin by the end of June.

Citing sources familiar with the matter, the Financial Times reported that Meta’s goal is to build a highly personalized AI assistant similar to OpenClaw, capable of carrying out everyday tasks for billions of users. Meta did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

According to Reuters, OpenClaw is owned by OpenAI and can connect to a range of hardware and software tools, learning from generated data with fewer human interventions than a chatbot.

Instagram shopping agent and CEO Zuckerberg’s remarks

According to The Information, the Instagram shopping agent Meta is testing is designed so that after users click on products in short videos or the feed, the agent autonomously navigates to an external webpage and completes the purchase, with the aim of completing the integration before the fourth quarter of this year.

According to The Information, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said last week that the quality of existing open-source agent experiences is poor, saying, “No one has been able to make me feel comfortable handing it to my mom to use.”

Safety concerns and Meta capital expenditures

According to The Information, Meta employees previously triggered a sensitive data leak incident by following incorrect internal agent (“MyClaw”) advice.

Citing the Financial Times, Meta raised its annual capital expenditure forecast toward the end of last month, planning to continue investing tens of billions of dollars into AI infrastructure while facing investors’ scrutiny of the continued rise in AI spending.

FAQ

What are the sources of the coverage related to Meta Hatch AI assistant? What is the core progress?

According to reports by the Financial Times on May 5, 2026, and by The Information, Meta is developing a consumer AI assistant codenamed “Hatch,” aiming to complete internal testing by the end of June; it will use Meta’s own Muse Spark model at the time of official release.

What are the functions and timeline for Meta’s Instagram shopping agent to go live?

According to The Information, the Instagram shopping agent lets users click on products and then have the agent autonomously navigate to an external webpage to complete the purchase; Meta plans to complete the integration before the fourth quarter of 2026.

What did Zuckerberg think about the current AI agent experience?

According to The Information, Meta CEO Zuckerberg said last week that the quality of existing open-source agent experiences is poor, saying, “No one has been able to make me feel comfortable handing it to my mom to use.”