The new tools will be offered for free, targeting merchants who may not wish to purchase additional tools. Meta's revenue on the WhatsApp Business platform primarily comes from businesses having more conversations with customers, and the company hopes the new AI tools will increase the number of these conversations. The company also plans to clearly mark AI-generated messages so customers are aware they are not interacting with a company representative.
Key takeaways:
- Meta has announced AI-powered features for WhatsApp Business apps, including the creation of click-to-WhatsApp ads and auto-responses to frequent customer messages.
- The company is currently testing AI-powered customer support with select merchants in India and Singapore, with plans to expand to Brazil soon.
- Meta's business partners for WhatsApp API, such as RelianceJio’s Inerakt, Tiger Global and Fidelity-backed Gupshup, and Peak XV and Shopify-backed Wati, already offer some of these tools through their WhatsApp-based CRM solutions.
- While Meta is offering these tools for free, its primary revenue driver on the WhatsApp Business platform is businesses having more conversations with customers, which it hopes to increase with the new AI tools.