Social media giant Meta is now gearing up to test new subscription tiers on its flagship applicationsâInstagram, Facebook, and WhatsAppâin the coming months, a move that seems to be aimed at monetizing advanced AI tools and better user controls while preserving free access to core functionalities. The initiative, confirmed by the company, follows its aggressive push into generative AI, including the December acquisition of Singapore-based AI agent developer Manus for more than $2 billion.
The subscriptions mark Meta’s effort to diversify revenue beyond advertising, which remains the company’s dominant source, amid substantial investments in AI infrastructure and talent. Unlike Meta’s existing Meta Verified program, which caters primarily to creators and businesses with verification badges and support perks, these new offerings target a broader audience of everyday users seeking greater productivity, creativity, and AI capabilities. The core experiences on all apps will stay free, with paid options unlocking exclusive enhancements. If successful, the subscriptions could establish a new revenue stream for Meta, complementing advertising and helping recoup costs from AI development.
To provide some context, Meta has long relied on advertising for the vast majority of its revenue, leveraging user data across its platforms to deliver targeted ads. In recent years, however, the company has poured resources into AI, open-sourcing models like Llama while integrating AI features into Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and its standalone Meta AI assistant. The shift toward subscriptions arrives as competitors in the social media space demonstrate viable paid models. Snapchat’s Snapchat+ service, priced at around $3.99 per month, has grown to more than 16 million subscribers by offering exclusive features such as priority support and custom icons. This success, alongside Meta’s own Meta Verified, suggests potential demand for premium enhancements, though widespread “subscription fatigue” among consumers poses a risk. From a competitive standpoint, Meta trails leaders like OpenAI and Google in certain generative AI metrics, despite its scaleâbillions of monthly active users across platforms provide a massive distribution advantage for Meta AI.
Meta’s AI ambitions have accelerated over the past months. Last year, the company restructured its efforts under Superintelligence Labs, led by figures including former Scale AI executive Alexandr Wang, and committed to heavy capital expenditures for data centers and model development. The Manus acquisition stands out as a pivotal move: Manus, founded with Chinese roots but headquartered in Singapore, specialized in autonomous AI agents capable of executing complex tasks such as job screening, travel planning, and data analysis. At the time of purchase, Manus generated significant recurring revenue from business subscriptions, providing Meta with immediate monetization potential.
The subscriptions will vary by app, reflecting distinct user needs. On Instagram, leaked details from reverse engineers suggest paid tiers could include unlimited audience lists for segmenting followers, visibility into non-reciprocal follows (followers who do not follow back), and anonymous Story viewingâfeatures appealing to power users managing personal branding or privacy. For AI-driven tools, Meta reportedly plans to introduce freemium access to Vibes, its short-form video generation experience launched in September within the Meta AI app. Vibes allows users to create, remix, and share AI-generated clips, drawing on partnerships with providers like Midjourney and Black Forest Labs while Meta advances its own models. Basic access will remain free, but subscriptions would unlock higher monthly generation limits, advanced editing options, or premium stylesâaddressing capacity constraints as demand grows. On Facebook and WhatsApp, specifics remain less defined for now.
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