Meta plans to sell AI tools and compute to enterprise clients
Meta is expanding its artificial intelligence strategy to sell APIs, agents and compute directly to businesses, a move that could reshape its advertising-heavy revenue model and unsettle European software competitors.
Mark Zuckerberg told investors on Wednesday that Meta will sell enterprise AI tools, APIs and computing power directly to businesses. This strategy expands the company well beyond the customer service agent it launched in June.
The shift marks a potential turning point for the company’s revenue model, which currently relies almost entirely on advertising. For European businesses and investors, it signals that the social media giant is preparing to compete directly with established software providers across the continent.
Millions of European small businesses already use Meta’s advertising platforms, giving the company a massive distribution channel for its new AI agents. These tools will operate across messaging apps to handle customer interactions. “And, just like the ad system, effectively, we will get paid when we deliver results for those businesses,” Zuckerberg said.
The company intends to leverage this foothold to move upmarket. Zuckerberg noted that Meta is building internal coding and productivity tools for its own use, but sees a broader market for them. “Now that we have those, we feel like there’s a large opportunity to serve — whether that’s small businesses or larger businesses,” he said.
Entering the enterprise market requires a fundamental change in how Meta operates. Zuckerberg admitted that selling software directly to corporations is a “different muscle” than the one his company has historically developed for consumer advertising.
Alongside software, Meta is exploring the sale of computing power, a market currently dominated by specialized cloud providers. The company noted it could sell access to its infrastructure at “a significant premium over what we paid for it.” However, Zuckerberg cautioned it “would be foolish” to sacrifice long-term capacity for short-term profits.
Instead, he described a “portfolio” approach, noting that as Meta gets closer to “personal superintelligence,” it will need hardware for seamless interaction. Beyond the enterprise, the company is pushing agentic AI for consumers, including smart glasses, and using large language models to build social apps faster.
Recent launches include apps for Marketplace sellers and Facebook Groups. “I expect it to become a lot easier to ship new apps,” Zuckerberg said, adding that recommendation algorithms will scale these products to relevant users.
