Meta aims to turn 250 million small businesses into AI customers

Meta is launching Meta Small Business, an initiative offering AI tools to about 250 million small and medium businesses that use Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, and it will be led by Dina Powell McCormick and Naomi Gleit.

Meta is launching Meta Small Business, an initiative that offers AI tools to the company's small and medium business users. The effort targets roughly 250 million businesses that use Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. The new unit will be led by Dina Powell McCormick and Naomi Gleit and will report directly to Mark Zuckerberg. The move follows a broader shift at Meta toward AI products and services amid scrutiny of its advertising business. Key details: - The initiative will integrate AI tools into Meta's existing platforms to automate tasks such as personalized replies to customer inquiries and social media content creation. - Meta positions the effort as a way to reach the large market of small and medium businesses, which the article reports spend over $400 billion annually on digital marketing and business tools. - The new division will build on the company's existing small-business base across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. - The effort is led by Dina Powell McCormick and Naomi Gleit, both reporting directly to Mark Zuckerberg. - The company faces competition from Google Business tools and Microsoft 365 AI features and is operating while under regulatory pressure, including a recent New Mexico jury verdict ordering Meta to pay $375 million, which the company plans to appeal. Summary: This initiative places AI-driven marketing and customer-facing tools directly inside platforms many small businesses already use, signaling a company strategy to expand services beyond core advertising. Undetermined at this time.