Meta offers users $10,000 to use its AI services

Mark Zuckerberg spent 6,500 words explaining why everyone should embrace AI and how Meta plans to hand out money to users to get them on board. In a long blog post that ran on the company’s website, the founder outlined a vision of a future where AI powers social media, commerce and everyday tools, and he offered up to $10,000 to anyone who adopts Meta’s new AI services within a year.

The move comes after Meta’s recent shift from a social‑media‑centric business to an “AI‑first” strategy. Facebook’s growth slowed, and the company’s advertising revenue fell as rivals like TikTok and X grew. Meta’s new chief technology officer, Andrew Bosworth, announced a $10 billion AI investment in 2023, and the company has been rolling out generative‑AI features in Instagram, WhatsApp and the Workplace platform. Zuckerberg’s long post is a public pitch to convince users that AI is not a threat but a tool that can make the platform more useful and profitable.

In the manifesto, Zuckerberg claims AI can reduce the time people spend scrolling by turning feeds into personalized assistants. He says Meta will give users money for training data and for using the platform’s AI tools. The offer is framed as a partnership: users help train the models, and Meta pays them for the data and for early adoption. The post also addresses privacy concerns, promising that data will be used only for model training and not sold. Reactions have been mixed. Some privacy advocates warn that paying users for data could create a new class of “data workers.” Employees have expressed unease about the pressure to adopt AI, and regulators in the EU have started to scrutinise Meta’s AI disclosures. Meanwhile, investors have welcomed the ambition, seeing AI as a new growth engine.

Meta’s next steps will likely involve launching a beta of its AI assistant on Facebook and Instagram, followed by a broader rollout across its services. The company will also need to secure regulatory approvals for its data‑collection practices. If the incentive program succeeds, it could set a new industry standard for monetising AI adoption. If it fails, Meta could face backlash from users, regulators and shareholders, further eroding trust in the platform. The outcome will shape whether Meta can regain its footing in a market that is increasingly dominated by AI‑powered social experiences.