Meta has been working to establish a more viable monetization pathway for its artificial intelligence models, and to that effect, Instagram Chief Adam Mosseri confirmed that IG users will have to pay for access to future in-app AI tools.
As part of his weekly Q&A on Instagram Stories, Mosseri replied to a user question about restrictions on the usage of Meta’s latest generative AI features for image and video generation. Mosseri said Instagram is shifting to a more defined subscription model for its AI tools.
As per Mosseri: “Basically, these AI models are very expensive to run, and so we try to just offer them for free, but we have a cap on how many times you can use them per day. Eventually, you’re going to be able to subscribe to be able to get access to more, we’re working on that right now.”
Meta recently launched its Instagram Plus add-on subscription package, which doesn’t specifically include AI add-on elements yet. Though as noted by Mosseri, the company has implemented restrictions on the use of effects that are powered by its latest Muse image model.
When Instagram users reach the limit, they’re told they need to subscribe to Meta to continue using its AI tools.
Meanwhile, the new Meta One subscription package includes unlimited usage of its Conversation Focus feature for paying Meta AI glasses users. Non-paying Meta glasses users are limited to three hours per month of usage.
These initial indicators represent the company’s gradual shift towards consumer subscriptions for its AI features as Meta tries to establish a stronger revenue stream in order to counter its rising development costs.
Mosseri said in his Q&A that Meta would prefer to keep as many of its features available for free, “but at some point it costs, the servers they add up too much, and we have to actually either throttle people or ask them to pay.”
The addition of more paid AI elements is no surprise, and Mosseri has been hinting at this for years. With Meta continuing to sink billions of dollars into AI development, it was inevitable that some of these costs would be passed on to users at some point.
But now, there is clear confirmation that this is happening.
Will that increase revenue for Meta, or decrease the use of its AI options?