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It took 11 years since Facebook acquired it for $19 billion, but Meta is finally bringing ads to WhatsApp, marking a major change for an app whose founders shunned advertising.

Meta announced Monday that businesses will now be able to run so-called status ads on WhatsApp that prompt users to interact with the advertisers via the app’s messaging features. The ads will only be shown to users within WhatsApp’s “Updates” tab to separate the promotions from people’s personal conversations. Additionally, Meta will begin monetizing WhatsApp’s Channels feature through search ads and subscriptions. 

The debut of ads on the messaging app represents a significant step in Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg‘s plans to make WhatsApp “the next chapter” in his company’s history, as he told CNBC’s Jim Cramer in 2022. The move to monetize WhatsApp also comes amid Meta’s high-profile antitrust case with the Federal Trade Commission over the company’s blockbuster acquisitions of the messaging app and Instagram.

Already, Meta allows advertisers to run so-called click-to-message ads on Facebook and Instagram that steer users to WhatsApp where they can directly engage with businesses. Messaging between brands and consumers “should be the next pillar of our business,” Zuckerberg told analysts in April, adding that WhatsApp now has over 3 billion monthly users, including “more than 100 million people in the U.S. and growing quickly there.”

Now, companies can run those kinds of ads within WhatsApp itself. The new status ads appear in a user’s Updates tab within that tab’s “Status” feature that can be used to share pictures, videos and text that vanish after 24 hours, akin to Instagram Stories. 

Since Meta bought WhatsApp in 2014, the popular messaging app has continued to grow worldwide. But unlike Facebook, Instagram and most recently Threads, WhatsApp has never allowed advertising.

WhatsApp’s co-founders, Jan Koum and Brian Acton, were public in their scorn for the advertising industry, and the duo left Facebook after reportedly clashing with executives who were eager to inject the app with advertising and other practices they shunned.

The social media company does not reveal WhatsApp’s specific sales, but analysts have previously estimated the app’s revenue to be between $500 million and $1 billion from charging businesses for tools and services so they can message customers on the app.

Meta will “use very basic information” to recommend which ads to show WhatsApp users, Nikila Srinivasan, Meta’s head of product for business messaging, said Friday. This includes a person’s country, city, device, language and data like who they follow or how they interact with ads. 

The company debuted WhatsApp’s Updates tab in June 2023 along with an accompanying Channels feature that allows people and organizations to send broadcast messages and updates to their followers as opposed to personal conversations. Meta will also monetize the Channels feature, the company said Monday.

Organizations and people who are Channel administrators will now be able to spend money to boost the visibility of their respective Channels when a person searches for them via a directory, similar to ads on Apple’s and Google’s app stores.

Additionally, channel administrators will be able to charge users monthly subscription fees to access exclusive updates and content, Meta said Monday. The company will not immediately make money from those monthly subscription fees, but it plans to eventually take a 10% cut of those subscriptions, a spokesperson said.

Meta hopes that by limiting its new ads to WhatsApp’s Updates tab it will disrupt users as little as possible, Srinivasan said. Users’ status updates as well as personal messages and calls on WhatsApp will remain encrypted, she said.

“We really believe that the Updates tab is the right place for these new features,” Srinivasan said.

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Perplexity launches AI-powered web browser for select group of subscribers

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Perplexity launches AI-powered web browser for select group of subscribers

Dado Ruvic | Reuters

Perplexity AI on Wednesday launched a new artificial intelligence-powered web browser called Comet in the startup’s latest effort to compete in the consumer internet market against companies like Google and Microsoft.

Comet will allow users to connect with enterprise applications like Slack and ask complex questions via voice and text, according to a brief demo video Perplexity released on Wednesday.

The browser is available to Perplexity Max subscribers, and the company said invite-only access will roll out to a waitlist over the summer. Perplexity Max costs users $200 per month.

“We built Comet to let the internet do what it has been begging to do: to amplify our intelligence,” Perplexity wrote in a blog post on Wednesday.

Perplexity is best known for its AI-powered search engine that gives users simple answers to questions and links out to the original source material on the web. After the company was accused of plagiarizing content from media outlets, it launched a revenue-sharing model with publishers last year.

In May, Perplexity was in late-stage talks to raise $500 million at a $14 billion valuation, a source familiar confirmed to CNBC. The startup was also approached by Meta earlier this year about a potential acquisition, but the companies did not finalize a deal.

“We will continue to launch new features and functionality for Comet, improve experiences based on your feedback, and focus relentlessly–as we always have–on building accurate and trustworthy AI that fuels human curiosity,” Perplexity said Wednesday.

WATCH: Perplexity CEO on AI race: The market of providing answers to questions will become a commodity

Perplexity CEO on AI race: The market of providing answers to questions will become a commodity

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Retailers log $7.9 billion in online sales in first 24 hours of Prime Day

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Retailers log .9 billion in online sales in first 24 hours of Prime Day

A worker sorts packages on Amazon Prime Day in New York on July 8, 2025.

Klaus Galiano | Bloomberg | Getty Images

U.S. online sales jumped 9.9% year over year to $7.9 billion on Tuesday, the kickoff of Amazon‘s Prime Day megasale, according to Adobe Analytics.

At that level, it marks the “single biggest e-commerce day so far this year,” Adobe said. It also eclipsed total online spending during Thanksgiving last year, when sales on the holiday reached $6.1 billion.

Amazon’s Prime Day bargain blitz began on Tuesday and lasts through Friday. The event, first launched in 2015 as a way to hook new Prime members, has pushed other retailers to launch counterprogramming.

Walmart‘s six-day deals event also started Tuesday, while Target Circle Week kicked off on Sunday and Best Buy launched a Black Friday in July promotion that began Monday.

Home and outdoor goods showed signs of strong demand during the first day of Amazon’s discount event, said Kashif Zafar, CEO of Xnurta, an advertising platform that serves more than 20,000 online businesses.

Read more CNBC Amazon coverage

Other historically well-performing categories such as beauty and household essentials saw softer demand early on, but could see demand pick up as Prime Day continues, he added.

“Early Prime Day numbers might look soft compared to last year’s surge, but it’s too early to call the event a miss,” Zafar said in an email. “With four days instead of two, we’re seeing a different rhythm, consumers are spreading out their purchases.”

Adobe expects online sales to reach $23.8 billion across all retailers during the 96-hour event, a level that’s “equivalent to two Black Fridays.”

U.S. online shoppers spent $14.2 billion during the 48-hour Prime Day event last year, according to Adobe.

This year’s Prime Day is landing at an uncertain time for retailers and consumers as they grapple with the fallout of President Donald Trump‘s unpredictable tariff policies.

U.S. consumer confidence worsened in June after improving in May as Americans remained concerned about the tariffs’ effect on the economy and prices, according to the Conference Board.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said last month the company hasn’t seen prices “appreciably go up” on its site as a result of tariffs.

Some third-party sellers previously told CNBC they were considering raising or had already raised the price of some of their products manufactured in China as the cost of tariffs became burdensome.

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Photos show Altman, Iger and Cook arrive at ‘summer camp for billionaires’ in Sun Valley

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Photos show Altman, Iger and Cook arrive at 'summer camp for billionaires' in Sun Valley

Sun Valley: Tech CEOs convene as leaders discuss the impact of tariffs, future plans

Top executives from tech, media and finance gathered in Sun Valley, Idaho, for Allen & Co.’s annual conference this week, an event that is often referred to as “summer camp for billionaires.”

Apple CEO Tim Cook, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon, Disney CEO Bob Iger and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman were all pictured entering the lodge.

Wednesday’s agenda includes interviews with Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and IAC Chairman Barry Diller, sources told CNBC’s Julia Boorstin.

When he arrived on Tuesday, Altman said he is not concerned about the artificial intelligence talent war and that he would talk to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg this week.

Scroll down to see the tech and media moguls arriving at the exclusive event.

Apple CEO Tim Cook

Tim Cook arrives for the annual Allen and Co. Sun Valley Media and Technology Conference at the Sun Valley Resort in Sun Valley, Idaho, on July 8, 2025.

David Grogan | CNBC

Comcast CEO Brian Roberts and Disney CEO Bob Iger

Brian Roberts, CEO of Comcast, and Bob Iger (R), CEO of Walt Disney Co., attend the annual Allen and Co. Sun Valley Media and Technology Conference at the Sun Valley Resort in Sun Valley, Idaho, on July 8, 2025.

David A. Grogan | CNBC

TV host Gayle King

Gayle King attends the annual Allen and Co. Sun Valley Media and Technology Conference at the Sun Valley Resort in Sun Valley, Idaho, on July 8, 2025.

David A. Grogan | CNBC

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, attends the annual Allen and Co. Sun Valley Media and Technology Conference at the Sun Valley Resort in Sun Valley, Idaho, on July 8, 2025.

David A. Grogan | CNBC

GM CEO Mary Barra

Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors, attends the annual Allen and Co. Sun Valley Media and Technology Conference at the Sun Valley Resort in Sun Valley, Idaho, on July 8, 2025.

David A. Grogan | CNBC

Spanx founder Sara Blakely

Sara Blakely, founder of Spanx, arrives for the annual Allen and Co. Sun Valley Media and Technology Conference at the Sun Valley Resort in Sun Valley, Idaho, on July 8, 2025.

David A. Grogan | CNBC

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon

Doug McMillon, CEO of Walmart, arrives for the annual Allen and Co. Sun Valley Media and Technology Conference at the Sun Valley Resort in Sun Valley, Idaho, on July 8, 2025.

David A. Grogan | CNBC

Entertainment executive Casey Wasserman

Casey Wasserman, CEO of Wasserman Media Group, arrives for the annual Allen and Co. Sun Valley Media and Technology Conference at the Sun Valley Resort in Sun Valley, Idaho, on July 8, 2025.

David A. Grogan | CNBC

Boston Red Sox and Liverpool FC owner John Henry

John Henry attends the annual Allen and Co. Sun Valley Media and Technology Conference at the Sun Valley Resort in Sun Valley, Idaho, on July 8, 2025.

David A. Grogan | CNBC

OpenAI Chair Bret Taylor

Bret Taylor, chairman of the board of directors of OpenAI, attends the annual Allen and Co. Sun Valley Media and Technology Conference at the Sun Valley Resort in Sun Valley, Idaho, on July 8, 2025.

David A. Grogan | CNBC

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav

David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, attends the annual Allen and Co. Sun Valley Media and Technology Conference at the Sun Valley Resort in Sun Valley, Idaho, on July 8, 2025.

David A. Grogan | CNBC

Home Depot co-founder Ken Langone

Ken Langone attends the annual Allen and Co. Sun Valley Media and Technology Conference at the Sun Valley Resort in Sun Valley, Idaho, on July 8, 2025.

David A. Grogan | CNBC

Billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller

Stanley Druckenmiller attends the annual Allen and Co. Sun Valley Media and Technology Conference at the Sun Valley Resort in Sun Valley, Idaho, on July 8, 2025.

David A. Grogan | CNBC

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