The Lower Eastern Times Opening The Third Eye
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has laid out an optimistic outlook for the company, crediting artificial intelligence with driving strong quarterly results while setting the stage for new products and revenue streams in the years ahead.
Sharing highlights from Meta’s latest earnings call, Zuckerberg reported that 3.6 billion people now use at least one Meta app daily, with several platforms hitting new milestones. Instagram surpassed 2 billion daily active users, Threads crossed 500 million monthly actives — which Zuckerberg called the fastest growth of any conversation app to date — and Facebook has sustained more than 2 billion daily users.
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WhatsApp, meanwhile, set a new messaging record, processing 30 million messages per second during the World Cup final. Zuckerberg also announced that Kunal Shah, founder of a major Indian payments company, has joined Meta as the new head of WhatsApp.
Zuckerberg said AI is now embedded across nearly every major part of Meta’s business, improving the app experience for users, boosting results for advertisers, and speeding up internal product development. Large language models integrated into Instagram and Facebook’s recommendation systems are helping the platforms better understand content and user intent, while new generative tools — Muse Image and Muse Video — are expanding the pool of content available beyond what friends and followed creators post.
On advertising, Zuckerberg said AI-driven improvements to ad prediction and targeting have pushed Meta’s ad revenue growth ahead of any other major advertising business on a year-over-year basis. He noted that 9 million small businesses are now using at least one AI-powered ad creative tool, with more automated creative solutions in development. The company also recently launched Meta One, a new subscription offering expanded AI features across its apps, alongside faster-moving product launches like Instagram Instants, the standalone Groups app Forum, and the standalone Marketplace app Seller.
Looking ahead, Zuckerberg outlined plans for personal AI agents designed to work around the clock on users’ behalf, assisting with goals ranging from health to finances to relationships. While AI agents have so far gained the most traction among technically skilled coding users, he said Meta’s aim is to make personal agents simple enough for billions of people to adopt effortlessly, with more details expected soon.
Messaging platforms, particularly WhatsApp, are expected to play a central role in this agent-driven future. Zuckerberg noted that WhatsApp is already the leading surface for Meta AI interactions, and the company recently introduced an incognito mode on WhatsApp and the Meta AI app, allowing private conversations that even Meta cannot access — part of a broader push to build privacy into its AI ecosystem.
On the enterprise side, Zuckerberg highlighted the global rollout of Meta Business Agents on WhatsApp and Messenger, with more than 1 million businesses now using them weekly to communicate with customers and process sales, with expansion to Instagram now underway. He described plans to deepen these agents’ capabilities over time, eventually offering business growth suggestions and competitive insights as part of what he called a “business-in-a-box” service.
Meta is also advancing its in-house AI models through Meta Superintelligence Labs, launched roughly a year ago. Recent releases include Muse Spark 1.1, an agentic and coding-focused model, and the Muse Image generative tool. Zuckerberg said daily engagement with Meta AI has grown 60% since integrating Muse Spark, with usage continuing to climb.
To keep pace with rising AI demand, Meta is ramping up infrastructure investment, including a newly announced partnership with BlackRock to build a 1GW data center in El Paso, Texas.
On hardware, Zuckerberg pointed to smart glasses as a key vehicle for delivering AI directly to users throughout their day. The company recently launched a new glasses line in partnership with EssilorLuxottica, including a style co-designed with Kylie Jenner — the first glasses to ship with Muse Spark built in. Zuckerberg said early sales have exceeded expectations, with further announcements expected at Meta’s Connect conference on September 23.
Zuckerberg closed by reiterating his belief that Meta’s strategy — distributing advanced AI capabilities widely rather than concentrating them — will continue to benefit both users and the company’s long-term business prospects.
