At Cannes Lions 2025, Meta unveiled 11 new AI features and confirmed a $14bn investment for a 49% stake in Scale AI, appointing CEO Alexandr Wang to lead its new “superintelligence” unit.
Meta isn’t just building AI across its platforms; it’s re-engineering the backbone of AI itself
Forget the subtle nods – Meta just opened the throttle. At Cannes Lions 2025, alongside unveiling 11 razor-sharp product features, the company confirmed what whispers hinted at: a $14-15bn, 49% stake investment in Scale AI, snapping up the startup behind the human-labeled data powering nearly every leading AI system. As part of the deal, Scale’s 28-year-old CEO, Alexandr Wang, will join Meta to spearhead its “superintelligence” unit.
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This is no mere tech rewrite – it’s a strategic declaration: Meta isn’t just building AI across its platforms; it’s re-engineering the backbone of AI itself. Here’s how that audacious buy-in sets the stage for the 11 AI-powered features announced at Cannes:
1. Coaching tools for business AI
Meta unveiled new features to help businesses set up AI agents more easily on WhatsApp and Messenger. These include smart prompts, setup coaching and performance insights to ensure agents are up-to-date and useful.
2. AI agents integrated into ads
Advertisers can now embed AI agents directly into ads, allowing users to chat with a bot instantly when clicking an ad, blending conversational commerce with campaign creative.
3. Voice-activated business AI
Meta is piloting voice functionality in its AI agents. Customers can now speak naturally with branded bots, making the experience more human, fast and hands-free, especially helpful in mobile-first commerce.
4. Text personas for personalized copy
Using brand assets and historical ad data, Meta’s AI now generates different tones of voice for various audience segments – so a busy parent and a fitness buff can see the same product, messaged differently.
5. AI-powered language translation
Meta’s creative tools can now automatically translate ad content into the top 10 global languages (set to double by year-end), enabling global campaigns to go live faster and with more nuance.
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6. New video generation tools
Meta’s AI now lets marketers stitch together multi-scene videos from static images, add text overlays and music and even reformat square content for Reels – no production team required.
7. Video highlights for ads
This smart new feature uses GenAI to extract key scenes from video ads, turning them into clickable thumbnails. It’s designed to increase watch time and reduce skips in the feed.
8. GenAI-powered virtual try-on
Expanding its e-commerce suite, Meta now offers virtual try-on using generative AI, with avatars in diverse sizes and shapes to better reflect real consumers. Video versions are in development.
9. Custom CTA stickers for Reels and Stories
Advertisers can now upgrade their ‘Shop Now’ buttons with AI-generated stickers, from seasonal graphics to branded icons, making CTAs more fun and more clickable in visual formats.
10. WhatsApp channel subscriptions & monetization
Channel owners can now offer exclusive content to subscribers, promote their channels and run ads within WhatsApp Status, opening up new revenue models inside the app.
11. Ads in the WhatsApp Updates tab
Meta is now testing native ads inside the WhatsApp Updates tab – the first time ad placements appear within WhatsApp itself (not just via click-to-chat from Instagram/Facebook). Crucially, they remain separate from encrypted personal chats.
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