Meta announced on June 4, 2026 that its customer support AI tool, now called Meta Business Agent, is available globally within WhatsApp Business. The launch follows nearly two years of testing the agent in select markets including India and Mexico.
The Business Agent can answer customer questions, recommend products, book appointments, qualify sales leads, and hand off queries to a human representative when needed. Meta is also making the agent available within Instagram Direct Messages.
Beyond core customer support, Meta said it is testing a daily briefing feature that summarizes overnight chats and surfaces insights. That test is running across select accounts on WhatsApp Business, Instagram Pro, Messenger, and Meta Business Suite. The company is also working to add capabilities such as market research, product feature highlights, calendar management, and competitive insight tools.
Additional planned features include surfacing businesses in search results and sharing contact details within chats. Meta is also building a platform to allow larger enterprises to create custom agents that connect to third-party systems such as Shopify, Zendesk, and Shopee.
On pricing, Meta said it plans to include the Business Agent in some tiers of its WhatsApp Business Premium subscription. Larger businesses will be charged based on token usage.
The move is significant for WhatsApp’s business model, which has historically depended on businesses paying for messaging and click-to-WhatsApp ads. By embedding AI into its business tools, Meta is positioning WhatsApp as workflow software for small and medium-sized businesses — a shift that could expand how the platform generates revenue from its large base of commercial users.
Source: TechCrunch