Meta is adding an AI assistant and a desktop version to Edits, its video-editing app built to compete with ByteDance’s CapCut. The company previewed the features at an invite-only creator event in Los Angeles on Wednesday. The AI assistant is currently in testing with event attendees. The desktop version is “coming soon.”

The AI assistant uses a creator’s Instagram data, including views and video-retention metrics, to analyse what is working and suggest new content ideas. It can recommend topics based on performance trends and flag trending audio. The goal is to keep creators inside Meta’s ecosystem instead of turning to external tools like ChatGPT for brainstorming or analytics.

Meta launched a similar AI assistant for Facebook creators last week. YouTube Studio already offers an AI-powered Inspiration tab, and TikTok has its own creative assistant. The feature is table stakes in the platform war for creators, but integrating it directly into the editing app, rather than the social platform, is a deliberate move to make Edits stickier.

The desktop version addresses one of the biggest gaps between Edits and CapCut. CapCut has offered desktop editing since launch, giving creators precise control on a larger screen for advanced workflows. Meta says creators will be able to sync projects seamlessly between mobile and desktop.

Several features launched today alongside the announcements. A Beta tab gives creators early access to experimental features still in development. Expanded audience insights now include demographic breakdowns and peak engagement times. Creators can also search specific topics in the app’s Inspiration feed to discover trending Reels and templates, and create multiple versions of a single video to A/B test performance before publishing.

Meta did not share download numbers for Edits. But it said content made with the app sees a 10% higher save rate and 2% higher reshare rate than content not made on Edits. More than half of people watching Reels on Instagram see Edits-created content every day.

Edits launched last year as a direct response to the TikTok and CapCut threat. The timing of its arrival coincided with the US ban scare that briefly took both TikTok and CapCut offline. Meta moved fast to fill the gap. The AI assistant and desktop version are the next steps in turning Edits from an opportunistic launch into a permanent platform tool that keeps creators producing content for Instagram rather than its competitors.

Meta on Wednesday previewed upcoming additions to its video-editing app Edits at an invite-only creator event in L.A., showing off features like a new AI assistant and a desktop version of the previously mobile-only app.

The company also announced other new tools will launch in the app today, such as a “Beta” tab for experiments and expanded audience insights.

Edits first arrived last year as a direct competitor to ByteDance’s CapCut. With the addition of the new and upcoming tools, Meta is looking to both retain and attract new users.

The upcoming AI assistant will help creators analyze their insights and brainstorm ideas for their content. The assistant will use their Instagram data, like their views and video-retention insights, to help them see what’s working and why. It will suggest video ideas based on performance and suggest making content with trending audio.

By integrating an AI assistant directly into Edits, Meta is aiming to keep creators engaged on Instagram as it continues to compete with TikTok and YouTube for creators’ attention. Additionally, by offering creators content ideas, Meta is encouraging more frequent posting, which could, in turn, boost user engagement. Direct access to an AI assistant also gets rid of the need for creators to turn to outside tools like ChatGPT when brainstorming content ideas and understanding performance.

Meta launched a similar AI assistant tool for creators on Facebook last week. It’s worth noting that YouTube and TikTok also offer tools to creators to help them brainstorm ideas. For instance, YouTube Studio features an Inspiration tab that uses AI to help creators generate video ideas, while TikTok offers creators an AI assistant that can brainstorm ideas and uncover trends.

The desktop version of Edits will give creators more precise control over the editing process as well as the ability to work on a larger screen, which can be helpful during more advanced editing workflows. The company says creators will be able to sync their workflows seamlessly between mobile and desktop devices.

The upcoming desktop version will also allow Edits to better compete with CapCut, which already offers a desktop version.

Among the new features launching today is a Beta tab, which will provide creators with early access to experimental features that are still in development and allow them to provide Meta with feedback. The rollout of the Beta tab indicates that Meta wants to better compete with CapCut and accelerate feature development based on what creators actually want and will use.

Creators will also now be able to see more detailed metrics like their audience demographic breakdown and the time of day their audience is the most engaged. The new metrics join the app’s existing analytics, which include data such as how long viewers watch a video, how many followers were gained from a specific video, where users stop watching a certain video, and more.

Additionally, creators can search specific topics within the app’s Inspiration feed to discover reels and templates other creators are making around a given trend or idea. They’ll also be able to create multiple versions of a single piece of content to test what performs best before publishing.

Although Instagram didn’t share specific numbers about how many users Edits has, the company says that content made with the app sees a 10% higher save rate and 2% higher reshare rate compared to content not made on Edits, and that more than half of people watching reels on Instagram are seeing Edits-created content every day. 

Edits is free to download on iOS and Android.

The AI assistant announced today is currently in testing with attendees of Thursday’s creator event, while the desktop version of Edits is “coming soon,” Meta says. The rest of the features are launching to everyone today.

In the first weeks of 2026, OpenClaw spread through the AI world like a sonic boom, introducing many of the industry’s most ambitious technologists to the joy and chaos of an unrestrained AI agent. The project’s momentum tailed off after OpenAI scooped up its founder, but the influence is still being felt — particularly at Microsoft

Today, Microsoft is launching Scout, a new AI assistant meant to bring the power and flexibility of OpenClaw into the Microsoft 365 system. Built on the OpenClaw framework, Scout is an always-on agentic assistant, designed to work alongside the user with a persistent identity and style. Users name their own Scout instance — in my demo, it was named Sebastian — and are meant to give it ongoing feedback on tasks that could be automated.

As Scout VP Omar Shahine put it, the idea is to create an assistant that actively adapts to the user’s needs. “We all have our interesting quirks in how we work, and people are codifying those patterns into memories and skills that persist in their agent,” Shahine told me. “Then the agent becomes more capable, better understanding you and gaining more agency and exercising judgments.”

Scout is based in the cloud, but operates across the desktop and web browser also, so it’s easy to connect to inboxes, calendars and other systems. Scout will come with prepackaged skills for calendar management and drafting meeting agendas, among others, but Shahine expects the real value to be in the skills users come up with on their own.

The system also comes with extensive security protections, meant to address concerns of unsupervised OpenClaw agents running amok. Scout will come with a built in “policy conformance system” that will continuously check whether the system is operating according to guidelines, and each conformance check will producing its own audit trail.

It’s part of a range of AI products launched at Build, including the hardware-oriented Project Solara, an update to Copilot, and a new reasoning AI model.