Meta introduces new AI features to WhatsApp, aimed at improving communication efficiency
Meta's WhatsApp has launched new AI features for businesses, enabling more efficient communication between businesses and customers using AI and helping businesses deliver precise push messages during chats. The initial promotion of this new feature is set in India and Singapore.
Another AI achievement has been implemented. On June 6th local time, at the 'Meta Exchange Conference' held in Brazil, Meta announced that it has introduced several new AI functions for the WhatsApp business application. These functions will improve interaction efficiency between enterprises and customers, including making it easier to create Facebook and Instagram ads that can directly initiate WhatsApp conversations, and automatically responding to common customer questions. In addition, WhatsApp's new AI functionality will allow businesses to send messages to specific groups of people rather than all subscribers, which means that businesses can send customized information to more interested customers.
Enhanced Marketing Opportunities
Furthermore, Meta announced that marketers will be able to use AI technology to create click-to-message ads that sellers can send directly to users and insert sales ads into chat content. This function is currently being tested in markets such as the United States and Singapore, and plans to gradually promote it to other markets. Zuckerberg said that click-to-message ads are expected to bring Meta annual revenues of up to $10 billion.
Meta CEO Zuckerberg said at the conference: 'The company's goal is not only to create an AI assistant but also to develop a series of AI agents to meet the needs of different industries, especially the business field. Meta hopes that enterprises can quickly deploy AI agents to effectively communicate with customers, provide services, and promote business activities.'
Global Reach and Transparency
These new features will serve more than 200 million businesses worldwide that rely on WhatsApp to communicate with customers. WhatsApp has more than 2 billion users worldwide, especially popular in regions such as Brazil, India, Indonesia, and Mexico, where locals often use the service to communicate with local businesses. For example, more than 120 million people use WhatsApp in Brazil every month. Meta emphasizes that to ensure communication transparency, all replies generated by AI will be clearly labeled, letting customers know that they are communicating with a robot, not a human.
The first batch of promotion areas for this new feature is set in India and Singapore, and plans to expand to Brazil soon. Meta especially emphasizes that in order to ensure communication transparency, all replies generated by AI will be clearly labeled, letting customers know that they are communicating with a robot, not a human. Meta plans to launch the Portuguese version of its consumer-facing Meta AI assistant next month. This Meta AI assistant, powered by the company's large language model Llama, can answer various questions from users on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp platforms.
Since the acquisition of WhatsApp in 2014, Meta has been exploring the commercial potential of the platform. The WhatsApp Business version is currently available for free and includes some paid features. Meta also generates revenue by charging businesses to send specific messages to customers and selling click-to-message ads that link to WhatsApp chats.
