Meta will use business data to personalize feed and AI responses

Meta broadened the use of information businesses already share with it, moving off-platform data beyond ads and into Feed content and AI responses. The company said it is not collecting any new data in the change, but it is widening how existing signals from purchases and other activity across the wider web shape what people see across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and Threads.

The update tightened the link between commerce, recommendations and artificial intelligence. Meta said a person who buys a tent online could later see camping-related videos in Reels, an example of how the same data can feed both ranking and AI responses. The company said it personalizes the experiences of 3.5 billion people who use its apps and services every day, making the shift one of the broadest adjustments yet to how Meta connects off-platform behavior to its products.

Meta also said it will discontinue the setting called “Your activity off Meta technologies” and replace it with an expanded “Activity from other businesses” control. The company said the setting, formerly known as “Activity information from ad partners,” lets users manage how this activity data is used to personalize content for ads and non-ads. That means the same business-shared signals that have long powered ad targeting will now reach organic recommendations as well, a change likely to draw fresh scrutiny over whether users are giving meaningful consent or merely clicking through another layer of settings.

The move followed Meta’s October 2025 announcement that it would use people’s interactions with Meta AI to personalize content and ad recommendations on Facebook and Instagram, starting December 16, 2025. Meta said more than 1 billion people use Meta AI every month, and that chats about hiking could influence recommendations for hiking groups, friends’ trail posts or ads for hiking boots. It also said it would notify users of that change through in-product notices and emails beginning October 7, 2025.

Meta said it would not use sensitive topics such as religious views, sexual orientation, political views, health, racial or ethnic origin, philosophical beliefs or trade union membership to show ads. Even so, the company’s latest step pushes the same data streams deeper into the core of its apps, blurring the boundary between what users do on Meta’s platforms and what they do everywhere else.