META LAUNCHES PAID AI AGENT FOR WHATSAPP BUSINESS

Meta Platforms has made its AI agent available globally on WhatsApp Business, marking the company's first commercial offering of the technology. Businesses will be charged according to token consumption, creating a new revenue stream for Meta. The move addresses mounting pressure to offset substantial AI development costs. Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has outlined ambitious plans for the technology, stating he wants Meta agents to eventually "run your whole business." The WhatsApp Business AI agent enables companies to automate customer interactions and business operations through the messaging platform. By charging based on usage metrics rather than flat fees, Meta creates a scalable pricing model that could expand across its other services. The deployment signals Meta's shift from developing AI capabilities internally to commercializing them. As the company continues investing billions in AI infrastructure, generating direct revenue from these tools becomes critical to justifying the expenditure to shareholders.