![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/SEI_286844429-8c3f-e1772103458708.jpg\")
\n\t\tThe bot went into \u2018charity mode\u2019, the seller joked (Picture: Facebook)<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tThe bot went into \u2018charity mode\u2019, the seller joked (Picture: Facebook)<\/p>\n
Meta<\/a>\u2019s AI tool offered to sell a man\u2019s air fryer for free on Facebook<\/a> Marketplace, a user has told Metro.<\/p>\n Teja Karlapudi, 30, listed an Instant Pot air fryer earlier this month for $75 (about \u00a355) on the social media<\/a> platform\u2019s digital thrift shop.<\/p>\n But he was surprised, to say the least, when he opened up a message from an interested buyer only to see a message he never sent.<\/p>\n \u2018I still have it. Want it for free?\u2019 the message says.<\/p>\n Teja, who is based in the US<\/a>, told Metro: \u2018Usually, the most common question that people ask on Facebook Marketplace is, \u201cIs this available?\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018If I don\u2019t immediately respond, they might change their mind, so I thought Meta\u2019s new AI reply feature would help me respond quickly to those questions with \u201cYes, its available, are you interested?\u201d something like that. So I turned it on.\u2019<\/p>\n \t\t Teja only realised Meta\u2019s built-in virtual assistant had responded in this way four hours later, as his mobile phone was on do not disturb. <\/p>\n The mobile application developer replied: \u2018Sorry, that\u2019s Meta\u2019s new AI-generated text\u2026 Yes it is available.\u2019<\/p>\n The keen buyer, however, never replied. <\/p>\n \u2018I think they thought I\u2019m some sort of a scammer or spammer. There is a lot of spam\/scam in Facebook marketplace,\u2019 the code-writer added. <\/p>\n \u2018I have also turned it on for few other listings, and for those it did reply correctly. It went into this charity<\/a> mode only for this one.\u2019<\/p>\n Teja did not report the rogue message to Meta, which he stressed was a suggested reply he did not type himself. <\/p>\n Metro understands that this was caused by a bug that Meta has since patched. <\/p>\n \t\t Some Marketplace users<\/a> say they have been offered a way to write a customisable auto-response to certain buyer questions since January<\/a>. <\/p>\n Meta is gradually introducing AI auto-replies <\/a>for Instagram<\/a>, where a virtual personal assistant responds to certain chats on behalf of content creators. <\/p>\n Such messages are labelled as being generated by the AI bot, which is made with Meta\u2019s AI Studio. <\/p>\n \u2018Your AI can answer common questions for you so you have time to connect with more people and your fans can get quicker responses,\u2019 apage <\/a>on the Instagram Help Center says. <\/p>\n Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/p>\n For more stories like this, check our news page<\/a>.<\/p>\n Arrow Arrow Arrow \t\t\tComments \t\t\t\tAdd as preferred source \t\t\t\tNews Updates<\/p>\n Stay on top of the headlines with daily email updates.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Meta](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/SEI_286844653-9336-e1772103043141.jpg\")
\n\t\tThe possible buyer did not reply (Picture: Facebook)<\/p>\n![\"Meta](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/SEI_286844191-64c7-e1772103120647.jpg\")
\n\t\tThe Facebook user stressed he did not write the automated reply (Picture: Facebook)<\/p>\n
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