Meta, Facebook's parent company, plans to deliver personalized ads and content based on conversations users have with its artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot.
According to Meta on the 1st (local time), the update will take effect starting Dec. 16 and will not apply to conversations that occurred before then. For example, if a user asks Meta's chatbot to "recommend nearby hiking trails," they could later see ads for hiking boots or gear on Instagram and Facebook, or encounter creator content about hiking in their feeds. The change also covers voice-based chatbot conversations through Meta's headsets, and users will not have the option to opt out.
Meta plans to roll out the new targeting feature worldwide, but the United Kingdom, the European Union (EU), and Korea are excluded from the initial launch. Meta said it intends to expand it to those markets after regulatory reviews. Meta's AI chatbot has more than 1 billion monthly users and has become a primary channel for users to interact with Meta's AI.
Meta privacy policy manager Kristi Harris said, "We plan to use chatbot conversations as one of several signals to inform ad targeting," adding, "The first ad product based on this is still in development."
Meta has been exploring ways to use AI to strengthen its advertising business alongside infrastructure investments worth tens of billions of dollars to build AI models and products. Advertising accounts for most of Meta's total revenue and is a key source of funding for its AI investments.