Key insights
- Meta's proposed subscription model for enhanced AI features on platforms like Instagram is viewed as out of step with user demand. The article suggests consumers are unlikely to pay extra for incremental AI capabilities, especially given concerns about AI-generated 'slop' and misinformation. While enterprise clients might find value, the broader consumer appeal appears limited, potentially signaling a misstep in Meta's AI monetization strategy.
Yahoo Finance Tech Editor Dan Howley joins Josh Lipton on Market Domination to discuss Meta's (META) latest bid to charge users a subscription for AI services.
It just doesn't make a whole heck of a lot of sense. I mean, you know, okay, so if you look at what these subscriptions are, what what the idea is that you get a little more capability when it comes to image generation, basically you get a higher token limits is essentially what you're getting of that, which basically just means you can use AI more.
Do I really need that? You know, does the average person really need to sign up for something like that to look at Instagram or uh I don't think people really need that. I don't think it's something that folks are going to say,
All right, I got my Netflix subscription. I got my Spotify subscription. Let me tack on a couple of bucks now so I can have my Instagram and get better.
I guess that's the question, Dan, is you you go about it, but have you seen any evidence that users want these subscriptions?
No. Uh I have seen a lot of AI slop, and I think everybody's seen that. I think a lot of people are tired of it. In fact, I think they would want that filtered out more. Unless it's like, you know,
you you there's just AI slop for AI slop sake just to take up space. And then there's genuine misinformation that's out there that's built on, you know, using generative AI or or uh, you know, the old Photoshop way and people probably want less of that as well.
Uh I think, you know, a subscription service for something like this just makes sense because you're already taking my information and using that to make money. Now I got to give you actual money? You know, it just doesn't make too much sense to me.
And then, you know, the the the flip side of this is also, you know, okay, what about uh enterprise customers? Well, that kind of makes sense. If you're an advertiser and you want access to more AI capabilities and that improves your chances of reaching customers, sure. But I think, you know,
the regular user base, it just really feels out of step with what the company is is is based around. It feels more like a reach than anything else.