Meta, the technology giant, will soon begin testing premium subscription services for users of Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp. This move marks the company’s latest foray into paid offerings, with the new subscriptions providing access to enhanced features such as expanded artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities. Core services on these platforms will remain free.
Additionally, Meta is planning to trial subscriptions for specific features like the Vibes video generation app, which it says enables users to bring ideas to life using advanced AI visual creation tools. Vibes was first introduced in September with the latest update to the Meta AI app.
Meta also intends to integrate technology from Manus—a Chinese-founded AI company it agreed to acquire in December for approximately $2 billion (£1.46 billion)—into its subscription plans, according to TechCrunch. Despite this integration, the company will continue to offer standalone Manus subscriptions for business customers.
At the time, Meta said the deal would help improve its own AI by giving people access to “agents” – tools which can do complex things with minimal user interaction such as planning trips or making presentations.
“Manus’s exceptional talent will join Meta’s team to deliver general-purpose agents across our consumer and business products, including Meta AI,” it said in a blog post. Based in Singapore after relocating from China, Manus has sought to set itself apart from rival AI developers with what it claims can be a “truly autonomous” agent.
Unlike many chatbots which need to be repeatedly asked for things before a user can get their desired response, Manus says its service can plan, execute and complete tasks independently in accordance with instructions.
In January, Beijing announced it would review the Meta deal to determine if it violated China’s technology export laws or national security regulations. In the previous year, Facebook experimented with limiting the number of links certain users could share in their posts. Some users in the UK and US received notifications stating they could only share a specific number of links on Facebook without a subscription.
The company said this was “a limited test to understand whether the ability to publish an increased volume of posts with links adds additional value” for subscribers. Also in 2023, Meta began introducing a paid verification service, offering Facebook and Instagram users a blue checkmark for a monthly fee.
Source: BBC
