Meta Launches Business AI Agent as Part of Paid Subscription

Meta is launching an AI agent designed to help businesses automate customer interactions across its messaging platforms, marking another attempt by the company to build revenue streams beyond digital advertising.

The Meta Business Agent, announced Wednesday at a company event in London, will be included in Meta One, a business-focused subscription tier the company introduced last week. The tool works across WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram to handle customer inquiries, recommend products, and book appointments.

Why it matters

Meta generates approximately 98% of its revenue from advertising and has repeatedly struggled to monetize physical and digital products. The Business Agent represents a strategic push into the enterprise AI market, where companies like Amazon, Microsoft, and OpenAI are competing aggressively. By bundling AI capabilities into a subscription service, Meta is testing whether businesses will pay for automation tools that complement its free messaging platforms.

From free pilot to paid service

Meta first released a test version of the service, then called Business AI, in October. That pilot was available only in select markets including Mexico and India. The commercial launch expands availability and integrates the agent into Meta's broader monetization strategy.

"Today, I want to introduce Meta Business Agent, giving every business, of any size, an agent to talk to customers and help run your operation," CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in prepared remarks. "Now, a clothing shop in Birmingham or a bakery in São Paulo can offer the same always-on, highly-personalized experience as a major brand."

Pricing and platform integration

Businesses using WhatsApp Business Platform will pay for the AI agent on a consumption basis, similar to the per-message pricing model already in place for customer communications on the app.

Meta is also releasing a Business Agent Platform that allows companies to connect third-party data sources from services like Shopify and Zendesk. This integration enables businesses to personalize customer interactions using their existing data infrastructure within Meta's messaging apps.

Future capabilities and competition

Zuckerberg indicated the company is developing more advanced "agentic capabilities" that could suggest business growth strategies, provide competitive intelligence, and deliver real-time performance insights. "As our models advance, your agent will take on more and eventually help you run your whole business," he said.

The launch places Meta in direct competition with recent agent offerings from Amazon and Microsoft, as well as open-source platforms like OpenClaw, which Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang recently described as "the most popular, open-source project in the history of humanity."

The details were first reported by CNBC.