{"text":[[{"start":9.2,"text":"WhatsApp’s business users will be able to use AI agents to respond to customers, as Meta tries to unlock a huge new revenue stream for the world’s most popular chat app. "}],[{"start":18.799999999999997,"text":"The move is one of the first attempts to commercialise the output of Meta’s latest multibillion-dollar AI push, beyond its core advertising business. "}],[{"start":27.949999999999996,"text":"Meta’s new Business Agent is being rolled out globally after testing in a small number of markets in recent months. It will automatically respond to customers’ messages, provide business owners with feedback and insights, and, in some cases, be able to close sales or book appointments without the need for human involvement. It will also expand to Instagram’s messaging feature soon. "}],[{"start":49.599999999999994,"text":"“A couple of years ago, I said every business would have an AI agent,” said chief executive Mark Zuckerberg in a video address at a Meta launch event in London on Wednesday, “just like you all have an email address, a website and a social media account. And that’s happening faster than I expected.”"}],[{"start":68.1,"text":"The news comes as Meta has this week been racing to address an Instagram hack that exposed some of the risks of its push towards AI automation, including for customer service features. "}],[{"start":79.44999999999999,"text":"Over several days, attackers were able to trick Meta’s AI support chatbot into giving them access to high-profile Instagram accounts, such as the White House page associated with former US president Barack Obama."}],[{"start":93.04999999999998,"text":"Zuckerberg has reshaped the Facebook parent’s AI strategy over the past year, spending huge sums to attract top talent from rivals such as OpenAI and Google, culminating in the release of its Muse Spark model in April. "}],[{"start":107.34999999999998,"text":"Alice Newton-Rex, head of product at WhatsApp, told the FT its Business Agent would “massively accelerate the paid messaging business”. The platform used a combination of internal and external AI models, she said, including Muse Spark. "}],[{"start":122.94999999999997,"text":"With more than 3bn regular users, WhatsApp — acquired by Facebook for $19bn in 2014 — is one of Meta’s most popular but least commercialised products. WhatsApp’s longstanding privacy protections have forced it to explore other business models beyond advertising. "}],[{"start":141.7,"text":"Revenues from businesses paying to use WhatsApp to message customers surpassed a $2bn annualised run rate in the fourth quarter of 2025, a tiny fraction of Meta’s total $200bn sales last year. "}],[{"start":155.39999999999998,"text":"“With paid messaging, we were already helping businesses talk to their customers,” said Newton-Rex. “This is really about accelerating that and making it feasible to run that at scale.”"}],[{"start":166.54999999999998,"text":"Many businesses already use a dedicated WhatsApp app to answer customer service queries manually, with smaller companies largely able to do so for free. Small businesses must now pay a monthly subscription to let AI systems respond on their behalf. "}],[{"start":181.64999999999998,"text":"Larger companies will pay fees based on the number and complexity of the agents’ interactions, at a time when many Big Tech companies are shifting from “all-you-can-eat” AI tool usage to metered access in the hope of generating a profit from the popular but costly services. "}],[{"start":198.54999999999998,"text":"Unlike person-to-person messages, interactions with WhatsApp AI agents would not be end-to-end encrypted, meaning both Meta and business owners could read the messages which could “potentially” be used for AI training, Newton-Rex said."}],[{"start":null,"text":"