Meta Develops Consumer AI Assistant Hatch, Plans Instagram Shopping Agent Launch by Year-End

According to Beating, Meta is developing a consumer-facing AI assistant codenamed Hatch, with plans to integrate a separate shopping agent into Instagram before the end of 2026. Hatch, currently powered by Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4.6 and Claude Sonnet 4.6 models, aims to make AI agent tools accessible to mainstream users. The company built a sandbox environment with real websites including DoorDash, Etsy, and Reddit for testing, with internal trials expected by late June. Meta plans to switch to its Muse Spark model for official launch. The Instagram shopping agent is designed to compete with TikTok Shop, allowing users to complete purchases directly from short videos or feed posts.