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Meta has long used your activity across its apps to serve up targeted ads, but it will reportedly soon tap another trove of user data: the conversations you have with its AI-powered products.
If a user chats with Meta AI about family vacations, for example, they may be shown Reels related to vacations on Facebook, says Meta's privacy and data policy manager, Christy Harris.
The change takes effect Dec. 16. Users will start receiving notifications about it on Oct. 7, though there's no way to opt out of this personalization beyond deleting your account or not using Meta AI, Meta tells CNBC. Your voice interactions with Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses will also be used to influence your feed.
This comes months after Meta AI hit 1 billion active monthly users and CEO Mark Zuckerberg hinted at the possibility of showing ads within the chatbot.
Many users assume Meta already uses AI chats to sell targeted ads, but "we want to be super transparent about it and provide a heads up before we actually begin using this data in a new way," Harris says.
The only exception is WhatsApp, where Meta will not use Meta AI conversations for targeted ads or recommendations unless people link their WhatsApp account to other Meta apps.