Meta wants a slice of the subscriptions pie.
The social media giant and budding AI superpower unveiled a host of subscription options for its services on Wednesday, including its AI chatbot, as well as its core social media offerings.
Meta stock jumped on the news. Shares of the tech giant gained 4% by the closing bell, though the stock is still down about 4% year to date.
The company said it was rolling out subscription plans for its Meta AI platform, which would allow users to pay for greater functionality.
The company is selling two subscription tiers, at $7.99 a month and $19.99 a month. They allow heavy users on Meta’s AI platform to gain access to “more capacity” and submit “more complex requests,” Naomi Gleit, Meta’s head of product, said in a video posted on Instagram. Meta users can still use Meta AI for free, though they could hit limits when using image and video generation.
Meanwhile, Meta will also offer “Plus” plans for its core services. Facebook and Instagram Plus will cost $3.99 and WhatsApp Plus will $2.99. The plans will give users an expanded suite of features on each platform.
The subscription offering is one of the first moves a tech giant has taken to monetize its AI features. It also comes at a time when questions have been swirling around the billions being poured into AI, and whether the money will be generate returns for investors. For now, investors are eyeing the potential for recurring subscriptions to at least partly offset some of the company’s colossal AI capex.
Meta, one of the most voracious AI spenders on Wall Street, is on track to spend up to $145 billion on capex this year, much of which is expected to be allocated toward its AI projects.
