Meta launched its first AI-driven ad targeting program for businesses on WhatsApp, as it tries to wring revenue out of the popular chat service, the company announced on Thursday at a conference in Brazil.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the new tools in a video which was exhibited during the event. The announcement marks a shift for WhatsApp, an encrypted messaging service that heavily touts its privacy credentials and has long eschewed the types of targeted advertising tools that underpin Meta’s other apps, like Facebook and Instagram.
The social media giant has been introducing commerce and payment features on the app for several years, including “business messaging” tools companies can use to conduct customer service chats and send marketing materials to people who have shared their phone numbers with the companies.