Meta is rolling out paid ad-free subscriptions across Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp, marking a broader shift toward optional premium services while keeping the core social networking experience free to use.
This week, users in the UK received notifications offering ad-free versions of Facebook and Instagram for £2.99 per month, while equivalent subscriptions in the European Union cost €5.99 monthly.
These options follow Meta’s 2023 rollout of paid verification on Facebook and Instagram, which introduced a monthly fee in exchange for a blue verification badge and account support features.
The subscriptions allow users to pay for an ad-free experience alongside access to additional tools, reflecting Meta’s effort to diversify revenue beyond advertising amid regulatory pressure and slowing growth in some regions.
Crucially, free access to posting, messaging, and content discovery remains unchanged, positioning subscriptions as an optional layer rather than a requirement for everyday platform participation.
Meta also plans to bundle expanded artificial intelligence capabilities into these subscriptions, signalling a strategy that treats advanced AI tools as a premium utility rather than a default feature for all users.
One feature under consideration includes access to Vibes Video, a video generation tool introduced last September within the Meta AI app, which focuses on creating short-form visual content using generative AI workflows.
Meta also intends to integrate technology from Manus, an AI firm it agreed to acquire in December for a reported $2 billion, according to a report cited by TechCrunch.
Manus develops so-called autonomous agents capable of planning and completing complex tasks with minimal prompting, a capability Meta has highlighted as central to its longer-term consumer and business AI roadmap.
Meta previously stated that Manus talent would help deliver general-purpose agents across products including Meta AI, placing these tools as productivity enhancers rather than simple conversational chatbots.
Manus operates from Singapore after relocating from China and has differentiated itself by promoting task execution that progresses independently once instructions are provided, rather than requiring repeated user interaction.
In January, Chinese authorities announced plans to investigate the Meta-Manus deal to assess potential violations of technology export controls or national security regulations, adding geopolitical scrutiny to the acquisition.
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