2026-01-27 16:03:51

Meta will trial premium subscriptions for Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp users in the coming months.

The US tech behemoth’s latest experiment with paid services is set to give access to features such as expanded artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities.

However, access to the social media platforms’ core services will remain free of charge.

Meta intends to test subscriptions for features such as the Vibes video generation app, which the company says “can bring your ideas to life with new AI visual creation tools”.

It is also aiming to use Manus – the Chinese-founded AI firm it agreed to buy in a reported $2billion deal last month – in its subscription plans.

Meta will continue to offer standalone Manus subscriptions to businesses.

The firm said at the time that the deal would help improve its AI by giving users access to “agents” – tools that can do complex tasks such as planning trips and making presentations with minimal user interaction.

It said in a blog post: “Manus’s exceptional talent will join Meta’s team to deliver general-purpose agents across our consumer and business products, including Meta AI.”

Manus is based in Singapore after relocating from China and has tried to set itself apart from rival AI developers with what it claims is a “truly autonomous” agent.

Unlike chatbots that need to be repeatedly asked to do what the user wishes, Manus claims that its service can plan, execute and finish tasks independently in accordance with instructions.

However, Beijing said earlier this month that it would be investigating the Meta deal to assess whether Manus had broken Chinese technology export laws or national security regulations.

Meta has dabbled with the idea of premium subscriptions in the past, as Facebook last year tested a limit on how many links some users can share when they post on the site.

Notifications seen by some users in the US and UK said that they could only share a certain number of links in Facebook posts without a subscription.

Meta described this as “a limited test to understand whether the ability to publish an increased volume of posts with links adds additional value” for subscribers.

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