Meta Plans Premium Subscriptions for Flagship Apps

Meta, the technology company behind Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp, announced plans on Monday to test premium subscription options across its flagship applications in the coming months. The initiative aims to provide users with access to exclusive features focused on productivity, creativity, and advanced artificial intelligence capabilities, while maintaining free core services for all.

The subscriptions will operate independently for each app, with tailored features designed to enhance user experiences based on how people interact with the platforms. For Instagram, potential offerings include the ability to create unlimited audience lists, view a list of followers who do not follow back, and watch Stories anonymously without notifying the poster. Details for Facebook and WhatsApp remain less specified, but the company indicated that testing will involve various combinations of features and pricing models to refine the approach.

A central element of the strategy centers on AI integration. Meta intends to incorporate Manus, an AI agent it acquired last December for approximately $2 billion, into the subscription plans. Manus, originally founded in China and now based in...