Meta opens new phase of AI monetization: WhatsApp launches enterprise AI agents

According to a report by the Financial Times, as Meta seeks to open up a significant new revenue stream for WhatsApp, enterprise users of WhatsApp will soon be able to use AI agents to automatically reply to customer messages. This move is one of Meta's first attempts to commercialize its latest multi-billion dollar AI investments, rather than relying solely on its core advertising business.

Meta's new product, the "Enterprise AI Agent," has now begun a global rollout after being tested in a few markets over the past few months. This tool can automatically respond to customer messages, provide business feedback and data insights to merchants, and in some scenarios, complete sales conversions or appointment scheduling without human intervention. In the future, this feature will also be extended to Instagram's messaging system. 

Speaking via video at a product launch event in London on Wednesday, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said: "A few years ago, I said that every business would eventually have its own AI agent, just like every company today has an email address, a website, and social media accounts. And this process is happening even faster than I expected." (Jinshi)