Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp want you to pay extra for some of their AI tools
Meta will soon trial paid subscriptions for Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
The social media tech giant will give a handful of users in the coming months the chance to pay for access to exclusive features.
These will include beefed-up AI capabilities and other ways to ‘unlock more productivity and creativity’, Meta confirmed to TechCrunch.
Various subscriptions will be tested, though the company didn’t reveal which features will go behind paywalls or how much they will cost.
The core experience of the platforms will remain free, however.
Tech leaker Alessandro Paluzzi has claimed that some premium perks for Instagram users may include:
- Creating unlimited audience lists.
- Seeing a list of accounts you follow that don’t follow you back.
- Viewing a Story without notifying the user who posted it.
Vibes, an AI-powered short-form video generator within the Meta AI app, will be part of one bundle.
While the tool has been free since launching in September, Meta is moving to a ‘freemium’ model, so some Vibes functions are locked.
Manus, an AI agent, will also be part of the premium plans.
One way it may be integrated into Instagram is by letting it ‘research, create and build’ for you, according to Paluzzi’s leaks.
These paid-for services will be separate from Meta Verified, which sees users pay for a blue profile tick and customer support.
The news comes after Meta announced last year that it would begin asking users if they want to pay £3.99 a month for an ad-free experience.
What is Manus?
Manus is an example of agentic AI.
You can think of them as digital personal assistants that can carry out tasks on your behalf, like making a dinner reservation or comparing flight costs.
General-purpose chatbots, meanwhile, need to be asked for things before completing requests.
Manus is a Singapore start-up founded by Chinese engineers.
Meta reportedly bought Manus for around £1.5billion in December, having already spent billions on AI researchers and data centres.
Experts told Metro that now Meta will need to persuade users that they need AI features on their social media enough to cough up money.
‘YouTube offers the closest parallel,’ Mark Byrne, director of paid media at the media tech company, Brave Biso, said.
He explained that YouTube Premium has obvious pros, being ad-free for one.
‘Meta has suggested premium tiers could unlock access to AI tools and agents, but adoption will hinge on trust as much as capability,’ Bryne said.
‘Without clear reassurance and tangible benefits, AI alone is unlikely to drive mass subscription uptake.’
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