Scoop: Meta forms product group to build AI tools for businesses
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Meta is creating a new product unit to develop AI tools for the 200 million businesses that use its apps, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: Meta is an advertising company. To fuel ad growth, it needs to invest in the businesses that use its platform to interact with customers.
Zoom in: The new business AI product group will be led by Clara Shih, most recently the CEO of Salesforce AI, Axios has learned.
- Shih will be responsible for developing and monetizing tools within Meta's AI portfolio that are catered specifically to businesses.
- An example of that type of product is Meta's new business AI chatbot, which allows businesses to set up their own AI chatbots to talk to their customers and facilitate transactions in WhatsApp and Messenger.
Between the lines: Shih, who also founded the AI-driven sales social network Hearsay Social, will not only be responsible for building new tools, but also for getting businesses to adopt them.
- In an earnings call last month, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said businesses that adopt its AI tools for advertising perform better.
- "We estimate that businesses using Image Generation [an AI-driven ad creation tool] are seeing a 7% increase in conversions — and we believe that there is a lot more upside here," he said.
Reality check: This type of thinking isn't new to Meta, but it's been super-charged by Meta's AI ambitions.
- Case in point: Speaking to Axios in 2019 — long before Meta rolled out any AI tools — former Facebook chief revenue officer David Fischer said: "If we can serve more businesses and serve all of them well with free tools, then in time, they can grow, hire and support more communities. Some of them will advertise in time."
What they're saying: Asked for comment, a Meta spokesperson confirmed it was creating the new business unit.
- Meta's VP and head of monetization John Hegeman said in a statement to Axios, "We believe these latest advancements in AI represent a significant opportunity for businesses to drive more efficiencies and significantly improve the experiences they offer their customers. This new product group under Clara's leadership will help us bring that vision to life."
- Shih confirmed her new role as VP of business AI at Meta. She said Meta's vision for the new product group "is to make cutting-edge AI accessible to every business." She noted that the businesses that want to harness AI "often don't know where to begin."
The big picture: Meta's AI chatbot has amassed more than 500 monthly active users since it rolled out to users across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp in April, the company says.
- Its chatbot is powered by Meta's open-source large language model Llama, which has been downloaded more than 600 million times to date.
What's next: Most of Meta's business-facing AI innovations have so far centered around ad creation and optimization. The new product group will build tools that create deeper customer relationships beyond advertising.
