WhatsApp now has over 3 billion people using its platform every month.
That figure, confirmed by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg during the company’s first-quarter earnings call, puts the messaging app in a league of its own, alongside Facebook.
This shows how deeply WhatsApp has embedded itself in people’s lives across continents. The app, which Facebook bought for $19 billion in 2014, has grown without ads, subscription fees, or flashy features. It’s stayed simple, and that’s worked.
For Meta, however, WhatsApp has gone beyond a messaging tool, it’s now a pillar in a much bigger business play. The company is using it to quietly roll out more commercial services, particularly around AI and business messaging. CFO Susan Li said: “WhatsApp continues to see the strongest Meta AI usage across our family of apps.”
This isn’t about fun stickers or chat groups. Meta has been embedding AI tools into WhatsApp to create an intelligent front door for businesses and users. Most of the AI engagement still happens in private one-on-one chats, but the volume and potential are enormous.
And while WhatsApp tops outside the U.S., things are different at home. Americans still stick with SMS or iMessage. Zuckerberg knows this. That’s why Meta launched a standalone Meta AI app focused on the U.S. market.
“We hope to become the leader over time [in the U.S. messaging market], but we’re in a different position there than we are in most of the rest of the world on WhatsApp,” he said. “So I think that the Meta AI app as a standalone is going to be particularly important in the United States to establish leadership.”
In business, Meta reported that its family of apps generated $510 million in business-related revenue, with WhatsApp Business playing a central role. That product is expanding in both reach and intelligence.
The company is testing tools that let businesses train Meta’s AI using their website content, Instagram and Facebook profiles, or even their WhatsApp business page. It’s also trying out AI chatbots to handle customer messages.
Meta is laying the foundation for something bigger: a platform where businesses interact with customers at scale, powered by AI and driven through WhatsApp. If that sounds familiar, it’s because that model has worked before — in China, with WeChat.
The bigger context? Meta’s apps are pulling in 3.43 billion daily active users across the board, that’s Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Threads combined. Ads are still the bigger results: Meta delivered more of them this quarter, and at a higher price. Total revenue hit $42.31 billion, up 16% from last year.
WhatsApp has become one of the most important pipes in the system, a direct link to billions of users, and a space the company is steadily turning into a business and AI giant.
