Meta to Use AI Chat Data for Ads and Posts Starting December 16

Meta has announced a major change in its advertising and personalization strategy that will directly affect over one billion users worldwide. Starting December 16, 2025, the company will begin using information from user interactions with its AI features—including chatbots and virtual assistants—to customize ads, posts, and content recommendations across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

The move is part of a broader update to Meta’s privacy policy, which now explicitly incorporates AI-driven conversations into its personalization engine. According to the company, this shift is designed to make advertising more relevant while enhancing the overall user experience across its platforms.

Advance Notice for Users

The rollout won’t catch users by surprise. Meta has confirmed that official notices about this change will begin appearing in user inboxes and apps from October 7, 2025, giving people several weeks to understand the implications before the enforcement date. The company described the update as a way to “improve the efficiency and relevance of ads” by tailoring them more closely to a user’s interests.

For example, if someone chats with Meta AI about hiking, the system could later suggest local trail groups, highlight outdoor-related posts, or display targeted advertisements for hiking equipment. “We’re also using Meta AI, and our other AI features, to improve your experience on all of our platforms,” Meta stated in its newsroom update.

Global Rollout with Exceptions

The new ad policy won’t apply universally at first. Countries in the European Union, the United Kingdom, and South Korea are excluded from the December launch due to ongoing regulatory considerations. Everywhere else, however, the changes will take effect automatically, with no dedicated opt-out option available to users—except by avoiding Meta’s AI tools altogether.

How Privacy Will Be Affected

One of the most significant aspects of this update is how data will flow across Meta’s family of apps. Conversations held with Meta AI on Instagram, for instance, could influence what ads and recommendations a user sees on Facebook or WhatsApp, provided the accounts are linked.

Both text and voice exchanges are covered under this new policy, including interactions in Messenger or WhatsApp one-to-one chats. However, Meta has emphasized that encrypted messages will remain outside the scope of these changes.

Importantly, the company says certain sensitive categories—such as religion, health, sexual orientation, political affiliation, and union membership—will not be used to shape ads or recommendations. Despite this safeguard, the range of data still available for personalization remains broad, covering everyday topics like hobbies, lifestyle interests, and general conversations.

No Option to Disable AI Data Usage

For users concerned about privacy, the company has made its stance clear: there will be no setting to turn off AI data usage specifically. While account privacy settings can still be adjusted, the only way to avoid this new form of targeting is to stop using Meta’s AI features altogether.

With this update, Meta is betting heavily on AI-driven personalization as the future of social media engagement and advertising—though it may spark fresh debates about privacy and data use in the digital age.