Meta Introduces AI-Powered Assistant and Desktop Support for Edits App

Meta on Wednesday offered a preview of several upcoming enhancements to its video-editing application, Edits, during an invite-only creator event in Los Angeles. Among the new additions showcased were an AI-powered assistant and a desktop version of the app, which until now has been available only on mobile devices.

The company also revealed that several new features are being introduced to the platform today, including a new “Beta” tab designed for testing experimental tools and expanded audience analytics.

Edits was first launched last year as Meta’s direct rival to ByteDance’s CapCut. By introducing both new and forthcoming features, Meta aims to strengthen user retention while attracting additional creators to the platform.

The upcoming AI assistant is designed to help creators evaluate performance insights and generate ideas for future content. Using Instagram data, including metrics such as views and video retention, the assistant will help users understand which content is resonating with audiences and why. It will also recommend video concepts based on previous performance and suggest creating content around trending audio tracks.

By embedding an AI assistant directly within Edits, Meta hopes to keep creators engaged in its ecosystem as it continues to compete with TikTok and YouTube for creator attention. The company is also encouraging creators to publish content more frequently by providing idea-generation tools that could increase overall user engagement. Having an AI assistant built into the platform eliminates the need for creators to rely on external services such as ChatGPT for content inspiration or performance analysis.

Meta introduced a similar AI-powered assistant for creators on Facebook last week. At the same time, YouTube and TikTok already provide comparable tools to help creators develop content ideas. YouTube Studio, for example, includes an Inspiration tab that uses AI to generate video suggestions. At the same time, TikTok offers its own AI assistant that helps creators discover trends and brainstorm content concepts.

The desktop version of Edits is expected to provide creators with more precise editing controls and the benefits of a larger display, making it particularly useful for advanced editing tasks. Meta said creators will be able to move seamlessly between mobile and desktop devices while maintaining synchronised workflows.

The upcoming desktop release will also help Edits compete more effectively with CapCut, which already offers creators a desktop editing experience.

Among the features becoming available today is the new Beta tab, which gives creators early access to features still under development and letsand lets them provide feedback directly to Meta. The addition of the Beta tab signals the company’s intention to compete more aggressively with CapCut and speed up product development based on creator demand and usage patterns.

Creators will also gain access to more detailed audience metrics, including demographic breakdowns and information about the times of day when their audiences are most active. These new insights will complement the app’s existing analytics tools, which already provide data such as viewer watch time, follower growth generated by individual videos, points where viewers stop watching, and other engagement metrics.

In addition, creators will be able to search for specific topics within the Inspiration feed to discover reels and templates related to particular trends or ideas. The app will also allow users to create multiple versions of the same piece of content so they can compare performance before deciding which version to publish.

Although Instagram did not disclose exact user figures for Edits, the company stated that content created with the app achieves a 10% higher save rate and a 2% higher reshare rate compared with content produced outside the platform. Meta also noted that more than half of users who watch Reels on Instagram encounter content created with Edits every day.

Edits is available as a free download on both iOS and Android devices.

Attendees of Thursday’s creator gathering are currently testing the AI assistant unveiled during the event, while Meta says the desktop version of Edits will be released soon. All of the other announced features are rolling out to users beginning today.