Meta is updating its privacy policy to allow conversations with its AI products to be used for ad targeting across Facebook and Instagram.
Starting December 16, the company will collect and integrate signals from Meta AI chats, Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, its AI-video feed Vibes, and its image generator Imagine into user ad profiles. The change applies globally, except in regions where stricter privacy laws apply (the EU, UK, and South Korea).
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That means if you ask Meta AI about hiking trails, you may soon see hiking gear ads on Instagram or Facebook. With over a billion people already chatting with Meta AI each month, the move gives Meta a vast new stream of personal data to fuel its ad machine.
Importantly, Meta says data around “sensitive topics” (like religion, politics, health, or sexual orientation) will not be used for ads.
But there’s no opt-out: users will have to accept that AI interactions are now part of their ad profile.
The update underscores the trade-off behind free AI services: while Meta AI and related products are free to use, the real cost is in the data you provide.
As competitors like Google and OpenAI also explore monetization models for AI, ads are quickly becoming the default path.