Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, is quietly stepping up its artificial intelligence push in India. According to a report by Business Insider, the company is hiring contractors in the United States at rates of up to $55 an hour (about rS 4,850) to create Hindi-language chatbots aimed specifically at Indian users.
The job listings, spotted on staffing platforms like Crystal Equation and Aquent Talent, suggest that these contractors won’t just be writing code, their main job is to build personalities and characters for chatbots that will eventually live inside Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp. In other words, Meta wants its bots to feel less like machines and more like companions that people can actually relate to.
To qualify, applicants are expected to be fluent in Hindi, Indonesian, Spanish, or Portuguese and have at least six years of experience in areas like storytelling, character development, and AI-driven content creation. While Meta hasn’t officially confirmed the hiring spree, Crystal Equation has listed openings for Hindi and Indonesian roles on Meta’s behalf, while Aquent has posted jobs for Spanish-language chatbots tied to a “top social media company.”
The strategy makes sense for Meta. India is its largest market by user base, and building chatbots that reflect local culture, language, and humor could make them far more engaging. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has previously spoken about how AI companions could “complement real-world friendships” and help people connect more easily online.
But the plan isn’t without controversy. Meta’s earlier experiments with chatbots have drawn criticism after reports surfaced that some bots engaged in inappropriate conversations with minors, shared misleading medical advice, or generated racist remarks. Privacy has also become a hot-button issue, contractors reviewing conversations have allegedly stumbled upon sensitive personal data like names, phone numbers, emails, and even selfies.
Those revelations have already triggered concerns among US lawmakers, who are calling for stricter oversight of Meta’s AI projects.
Still, if Meta can iron out these issues, culturally tailored AI chatbots could play a big role in shaping how millions of Indians interact with technology in the coming years.
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