Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, will begin using conversations people have with its chatbots to personalise advertising and content across its apps, signaling a major push to monetise artificial intelligence, the company announced Wednesday.
Christy Harris, Meta’s privacy and data policy manager, described the move as a “natural progression of our personalisation efforts” and said the company aimed to be “super transparent” before implementing the new data use.
Meta plans to collect data from interactions with its AI services—including text, voice, and images—on devices such as its Ray-Ban smart glasses and through apps like Instagram and WhatsApp. The company said only user prompts and the chatbot’s responses would be collected, which it claims will not interfere with WhatsApp’s encrypted messaging.
For example, if a user chats with Meta AI about hiking, the platform might then show related posts, ads for hiking gear, or suggestions for hiking groups. The changes will take effect on December 16, though the UK, Europe, and South Korea are currently excluded due to local regulations.
Meta joins other tech giants exploring ways to monetise AI. OpenAI added a checkout function to ChatGPT and has considered advertising in the chatbot, as first reported by the Financial Times. Google has similarly integrated advertising into AI-driven search summaries, using data from its services to tailor responses.
The company reported that more than 1 billion people use its AI features monthly, underscoring the vast potential for personalisation and ad revenue. Users will not have an opt-out option, though they can choose not to interact with Meta AI.
