Key Takeaways Meta will begin using AI chatbot conversations to personalize content and ads starting December 16, 2025, with no opt-out option for most users. Over 1 billion people use Meta AI monthly...
Meta Platforms announced Wednesday it will begin using conversations between users and its artificial intelligence chatbot to customize advertising and content recommendations across its social media platforms, marking a significant expansion of how the tech giant monetizes its AI investments.
The policy change, set to take effect on December 16, 2025, will apply to all interactions with Meta AI—including text and voice conversations, across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger. Users will begin receiving notifications about the update starting October 7.
The move connects Meta's substantial investments in generative AI technology directly to its core advertising business, which generated 98 percent of the company's $165 billion in revenue last year.
More than 1 billion people currently use Meta AI each month, according to the company.
"While this is a natural progression of our personalization efforts and will help give us even better recommendations for people, we want to be super transparent about it and provide a heads up before we actually begin using this data in a new way, even if people already thought that we were doing this," said Christy Harris, Meta's privacy and data policy manager, during a press briefing.
Harris provided an example of how the system would function: if a user chats with Meta AI about planning a family vacation, the conversation could influence the types of Reels videos recommended on Facebook.
"So the Reels that I see on my Facebook feed or other types of content that are recommended to me could include family-friendly travel destinations," Harris explained. "It could include ads for hotels or other signals that would be informed by the conversation that I have had with Meta AI."
The company emphasized that AI conversations will be treated similarly to other user activities on its platforms. In Meta's official announcement, the company stated: "Just like other personalized services, we tailor the ads and content you see based on your activity, ensuring that your experience evolves as your interests change. Many people expect their interactions to make what they see more relevant."
Unlike some data collection practices that offer opt-out mechanisms, Meta users will have no choice but to accept the new policy, unless they stop using Meta AI entirely.
The company maintains that users can still adjust their ad preferences through existing tools, but they cannot prevent their AI conversations from being used for targeting purposes.
The policy will roll out globally with notable exceptions: users in the European Union, the United Kingdom, and South Korea will be excluded from the change.
These regions have strict data privacy laws that prohibit companies from this level of data collection without explicit consent.
Meta has implemented some limitations on what conversation topics can be used for ad targeting.
The company stated it will not use discussions about religious views, sexual orientation, political views, health, racial or ethnic origin, philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership for personalized advertising, consistent with its broader policy on sensitive categories.
The announcement has raised concerns among privacy advocates and marketing watchdogs. Iesha White, director of intelligence for Check My Ads, a marketing watchdog organization, told The Register that Meta's approach differs from other AI companies experimenting with advertising.
"Meta's core business is monetizing ad space across its owned and operated sites and apps, in addition to ad placements on external publisher partnerships via its Facebook Audience Network product," White said.
"By harvesting data from its AI chats across WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook, Meta gains yet another closed-loop data source, meaning Meta could reduce transparency of the targeting inputs across its advertising products, in the name of privacy."
The change comes as Meta faces mounting pressure to demonstrate returns on its substantial AI infrastructure investments.
The company announced in July during its second-quarter earnings report that AI initiatives would result in expense growth rates in 2026 that exceed 2025 levels.
Meta's move also reflects broader industry trends, as companies seek ways to monetize AI chatbot interactions.
OpenAI recently launched the ability for users to purchase select items directly through ChatGPT, though it does not currently operate an advertising-based business model.
The social media giant has faced previous controversies over its data collection practices.
Earlier this year, users discovered Meta AI was accessing camera rolls through Facebook, and concerns have been raised about the chatbot's integration into WhatsApp, which is already scrutinized for its data access policies.
For users concerned about the implications, Meta stated they can continue to use existing ad preference tools and feed controls to manage what content they see.
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