Zuckerberg plans monetization as Meta AI crosses 1B monthly users
What's the story
Meta's artificial intelligence (AI) assistant has hit a major milestone with over one billion monthly active users across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger.
The news was shared by CEO Mark Zuckerberg during the company's annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday.
He called the AI tool a key component of Meta's future growth strategy.
App impact
Standalone app launch and future growth
The surge in Meta AI's user base comes after the launch of a standalone app for the tool in April.
Despite hitting the one billion user mark, Zuckerberg emphasized that the product is still in its early growth phase.
"It may seem kind of funny that a billion monthly actives doesn't seem like it's at scale for us, but that's where we're at," he told shareholders.
Future strategies
Personalization and monetization plans for Meta AI
Meta's immediate focus is on enhancing user engagement through personalized experiences, voice interactions, and entertainment features. However, monetization is also on the cards.
Zuckerberg hinted at the possibility of paid recommendations or a subscription model for accessing more compute power—similar to OpenAI's ChatGPT monetization strategy.
This aligns with earlier reports that Meta was planning a subscription-based model for its AI service.
Meeting outcomes
Shareholder proposals and board-supported items
The shareholder meeting also saw discussions on 14 proposals, nine of which were driven by shareholders. These ranged from child safety and emissions to content moderation.
Proposal 8, submitted by JLens, called for a detailed annual report on hate speech and antisemitism—a response to Meta's recent loosening of moderation policies.
Early results suggest that proposals not backed by the board are unlikely to pass.