Meta has launched a new AI chatbot to handle business inquiries directly within WhatsApp chats, marking an early step in CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s vision to encourage businesses to automate their communications.
The company also rolled out its first AI-driven ad targeting program for businesses on WhatsApp, aiming to monetize the widely used chat service, as announced on Thursday during a conference in Brazil.
In a video shown at the event, Zuckerberg introduced these new tools, signaling a significant shift for WhatsApp. The encrypted messaging service, known for its strong privacy features, has traditionally avoided the targeted advertising methods used by Meta’s other platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
Over the past several years, Meta has been adding commerce and payment functionalities to WhatsApp, including “business messaging” tools for customer service and marketing to users who have shared their phone numbers with companies.
Previously, these tools allowed businesses to send messages to all opted-in users. Now, the new AI tools will leverage user behavior on Facebook and Instagram to target messages to customers most likely to be interested, provided they use the same phone number across accounts.
Guilherme Horn, WhatsApp’s head of strategic markets, told Reuters that these AI tools will help businesses optimize ad delivery to the most engaged users, which is crucial since businesses pay for these messages.
Meta has been intensifying efforts to monetize WhatsApp, its largest app by daily users. Despite its popularity and a $22 billion acquisition cost in 2014, WhatsApp has contributed minimally to Meta’s overall revenue.
At the conference, Meta also unveiled a new AI chatbot designed to assist with common business inquiries, such as finding catalogs or checking business hours, similar to other AI-powered customer service platforms.
Additionally, Meta announced the integration of Brazil’s instantaneous digital payment method PIX into WhatsApp’s payment system. PIX, developed by the central bank, accounted for about 39% of transactions in Brazil last year and offers services like money transfers and company purchases, akin to WhatsApp’s payment tools.
This move follows WhatsApp’s introduction of payment services from competing providers in India last year.
