As Bluesky, a Twitter-like social network, experiences a significant surge in users this month, Meta's own X competitor, Threads, is rapidly building out its platform to stay competitive. On Friday, Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced that Threads will start testing AI-powered summaries of what people are discussing on the platform in the app's "Trending now" section in the U.S.

The new addition sounds similar to X's Stories feature, which uses Elon Musk's AI chatbot Grok to summarize trending topics in the social network's Explore section. This move by Threads is seen as a direct response to X's feature, as the two platforms continue to compete for user attention.

In addition to the AI-powered summaries, Threads is also testing an expanded set of trending topics, allowing users to search within a specific date range and search for posts from an individual account. According to Mosseri, these new additions are "long-overdue improvements to Search and Trending Now on Threads."

Meta has been moving quickly to update Threads at a time when many X users are moving to Bluesky, which has now surpassed 20 million users. The platform has seen an increase in users following the U.S. presidential election as X gained more of a right-wing approach, especially after Musk used the social network to campaign for President-elect Donald Trump.

In response to user complaints regarding Threads' algorithm, the platform is now embracing feedback, as it rolled out changes this week to surface more content from people you follow in the app's algorithmic feed. This move is seen as an effort to improve user engagement and satisfaction on the platform.

Earlier this week, the social network rolled out custom feeds to allow Threads users to curate feeds around specific topics or certain user profiles. The tool allows Threads to compete with Bluesky's own features that let users build their own algorithms, feeds, and lists. This feature is seen as a major step forward in personalization and user control on the platform.

It's worth noting that Threads' user base is still much larger than Bluesky's, with over 275 million monthly active users. However, data from market intelligence firm Simiarweb shows that Bluesky is catching up with Threads when it comes to daily active users. The firm believes that if the social network is able to keep up its current growth rate, it could eventually catch up with Threads.

The rapid updates to Threads are a clear indication of Meta's commitment to staying competitive in the social media landscape. As the battle for user attention continues, it will be interesting to see how both Threads and Bluesky evolve and adapt to user needs and preferences.

In the broader context, this development highlights the ongoing shift in the social media landscape, with users increasingly seeking out platforms that offer more personalization, control, and transparency. As the tech giants continue to innovate and adapt, it will be crucial to monitor their progress and impact on the industry as a whole.