California (Web Desk): Facebook and other Meta platforms are set to introduce a significant change for their users. The company has announced that starting December 16, 2025, chats conducted with Meta’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) assistant will be used to personalize advertisements.
For example, if a user discusses a specific topic like hiking with the AI assistant, Meta will recognize the user’s interest in that subject and show related posts, reels, groups, and ads on Facebook accordingly. This system will work similarly to how liking a page or engaging with certain content currently influences ad recommendations.
Meta has clarified that AI chat data will not be used for ad targeting or suggestions related to sensitive topics such as religion, politics, health, or race. Kristie Harris, Meta’s Chief Privacy Officer, assured that existing privacy policies will be strictly upheld during this change.
Users will be able to adjust their ad preferences in settings, but it will not be possible to completely opt out of having AI chats used for advertising purposes. Additionally, if Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp accounts are linked through Meta’s Account Center, data from AI chats on one platform may influence recommendations on others.
However, encrypted messages on WhatsApp and Messenger will remain unaffected by this update.
Meta will begin notifying users about this change starting October 7. The new policy will apply globally except in the UK, European Union, and South Korea, where it will not be implemented.