Meta has named the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region as a key market for artificial intelligence (AI) and social commerce innovation. Its strategy is to strengthen a social commerce ecosystem that connects everything from product discovery to purchase through creator partnerships and AI-based advertising. It also dismissed concerns about profitability from large-scale AI infrastructure investments, saying AI is already boosting advertising efficiency and delivering results in core businesses.
Cho Yong-beom, Meta's head of Asia-Pacific (vice president), said at the online briefing "Meta APAC Business Update" on the 13th, "A year ago, discussions about AI were in an experimental phase exploring possibilities, but customers' questions are completely different now," and "AI is no longer a side project but is being embedded across the entire workflow, from campaign planning and content production to customer service."
Cho emphasized that AI use is not confined to large corporations. Entrepreneurs, small and midsize businesses, agencies, and major advertisers are using AI-based tools to find customers and increase sales, the company said. About 9 million small businesses are currently using Meta's Generative AI ad-creation tools.
Meta said that in the APAC region in particular, social media has become a core channel where not only product discovery but actual purchases take place. According to Meta, about half of APAC consumers buy products through social platforms. Consumers who discovered products on Meta's platforms spent 1.3 times more than those who did not, and trust in creators' product reviews and recommendations was higher than in other regions.
Cho said, "In the APAC region, social commerce has already become a basic way to shop," and "Consumers here do not simply want banner ads; they want the creators they follow to show directly how a product works, why they use it, and where they can buy it."
In response, Meta is expanding commerce features that reduce the steps from content to purchase. Notably, with "live video ads," which use live broadcasts themselves as ads, viewers can be taken to the sales page without producing separate ad videos.
It is also strengthening its creator affiliate program. When a creator recommends a product and it leads to a purchase, the creator receives a portion of the sales as a commission. Over the past year, more than 10 million creators in the APAC region have been connected with affiliate program partners, and commissions paid in the past month exceeded $24 million (about 34 billion won).
On Instagram, it is also testing a feature that directly tags products in content to take users to the purchase page, and brands can use that content as "partnership ads" with the creator's consent. Meta is combining this with AI agents to connect product discovery, purchase, and customer support into a single flow. Meta presented this as a commerce strategy that differentiates it from competing platforms.
Cho said, "You discover products through live ads and purchase via an affiliate link, then brands expand partnership ads, and when questions come up, an AI agent answers immediately," adding, "You can see it as a single connected system."
Meta also emphasized that as it continues to make large-scale investments in AI infrastructure, AI is increasing the efficiency of its existing advertising business and translating into results. In particular, it said that AI-driven ad forecasting and improved user matching are lifting advertisers' return on investment (ROI).
Cho said, "Investments in AI are already delivering results in our core business," adding, "When businesses or advertisers invest $1 on the Meta platform, they basically get $3 in revenue back." Cho added, "As we use AI to advance ad performance forecasting and selection of suitable users, investment performance is also showing encouraging results."
At the briefing, Singaporean creator Deborah Quek attended and shared how she uses the affiliate program. Quek said that after giving birth, she introduced baby and household products she personally used on Instagram Stories with purchase links, which led to actual sales growth. "Because I share products I have used myself as a mother with other mothers, trust is built," she said, citing the "feedback loop" in which product recommendations and consumer reviews feed back into content as an advantage of the affiliate program.