Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta Platforms Inc., wears Meta Oakley Vanguard AI glasses during the MetaConnect event on Wednesday, September 17, 2025 in Menlo Park, California, USA.
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meta The AI app has been making a huge splash in download numbers since launching its Vibes feed of AI-generated videos, giving investors a glimpse into the company’s artificial intelligence strategy ahead of Wednesday’s third-quarter results.
Since the release of Vibes on September 25th, Meta AI app downloads have increased 56% month-over-month on both iOS and Android, totaling 3.9 million downloads as of October 18th, according to data provided to CNBC by mobile research firm Appfigures.
“This is outstanding growth,” said Randy Nelson, head of insights at Appfigures, adding, “The month isn’t over yet.”
Still, OpenAI’s rival Sora app, launched on September 30th, apple’s It is an iOS platform and requires an invitation to use. From September 30th to October 18th, Sora had 2.6 million downloads on iOS, compared to 1.1 million downloads for the Meta AI app, according to Appfigures.
Sora’s early popularity comes as no surprise to more than a dozen creators, marketers, and brand agencies who spoke to CNBC about their interest in and use of AI tools.
Mehta declined to comment.
Creators and marketers say they generally find Sora easier to use. One of the main differences is that Sora has the ability to create more realistic videos of people talking, while Vibes only allows users to select songs of their choice as accompanying audio.
The Vibes feed is full of surreal and playful content, from four lions sharing a pizza in the jungle to a hedgehog singing karaoke.
Meta is paying creators to create AI-generated videos for Vibes as a way to increase awareness of the app, according to people familiar with the matter. Meta is seeking out influencers who specialize in generative AI tools from startup Midjourney and asking them to sign non-disclosure agreements, said the people, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to comment on the matter.
Evolving Meta AI Strategy
Facebook’s parent company debuted its Meta AI app in late April, confirming an earlier CNBC report. The app was originally called Meta View and was used by owners of Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses to manage device settings, import photos, and perform other utility functions.
The app is still used to manage Ray-Ban Meta glasses and was relaunched as Meta AI to serve as the company’s hub for users to interact with AI assistants like the social media company’s ChatGPT, but Vibes, released in September, added a video feed component similar to TikTok. The main difference is that all the content in the Vibes feed is created entirely by AI generators.
Unlike Sora, which is powered by OpenAI’s proprietary models, Meta AI’s Vibes feature relies on models provided by third parties such as Midjourney and Black Forest Labs, according to a Threads post last month from Alexander Wang, Meta’s chief AI officer and former CEO of Scale AI. Meta is also developing its own internally generated AI technology, Wang wrote.
Meta’s reliance on third-party AI models to power Vibes underscores the company’s renewed willingness to seek outside help in getting its AI technology back on track. CNBC previously reported that the disappointing announcement of Llama 4 in April prompted CEO Mark Zuckerberg to spend billions of dollars to revamp Meta’s AI organization and appoint a new leader like Wang.
The review continued last week, with Meta laying off 600 employees in its AI organization. The company has left Wang’s core TBD Labs group behind, with an overseas team now serving as a touchstone for AI efforts like Llama.
Meta’s AI strategy is sure to be a big topic of conversation during the company’s third-quarter earnings report and investor conference call on Wednesday. Analysts expect sales for the quarter to rise 22% from a year ago to $49.4 billion, according to LSEG. Wall Street expects full-year sales to rise 19% to $196.2 million.
meta vibes
Photo | Future Publishing | Getty Images
Some of the influencers Meta pays to join Vibes are based in India, where Sora is not yet available and TikTok is banned.
Company executives have previously said that MetaAI, which is primarily accessed through the company’s WhatsApp service, has the highest usage rate in India, the world’s most populous country, even though not all Indian influencers are paid.
“One of the biggest reasons I was excited is because I have been part of the creator ecosystem for almost 15 years now,” said Gaurav Bisen, a creator from India who posts on Vibes 10 to 15 times a day but is not paid by Meta. “Creating content on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube takes a lot of time, energy, and investment. But here, it’s super easy. Just type in the prompts.”
Bisen said he gained attention early on Vibes and has grown to more than 25,000 followers. He says he’s learned that short animated dance clips perform best.
“Even people who didn’t have the confidence to stand in front of a camera can now create works using just their imagination,” Bisen said. “Creative content can be produced without physical participation.”
Still, engagement on Vibes remains limited compared to Instagram and TikTok. Most creators told CNBC that their posts averaged fewer than 10 likes and few comments.
Instead, Vibes users measure success through “remixes.” Remix is a feature that allows creators to shoot an AI-generated video, edit the prompt, and repost it as their own.
“Remixes are like the currency of the app,” says Dylan McIntyre, who runs the AI video account JunkBoxAI on Instagram. She has over 1.3 million followers on Instagram, but only 22,000 on Vibes. “People like what they see and want to create and repost their own.”
Meta leans heavily toward generative AI as it courts creators and competes with OpenAI. The AI Studio tool allows users to create customizable AI characters and chat on Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
Investors will also hear commentary about the company’s Metaverse strategy.
Meta confirmed on Monday that Vishal Shah, who has led the Metaverse effort for the past four years, is now helping run the AI product as part of the company’s Superintelligence Labs division. The Superintelligence Labs division is led by recent hires including former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman.
Shah, who will now report directly to Friedman, previously served as vice president of product at Instagram. Shah’s new position was first reported by the Financial Times.
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