In a major reversal of a decade-old promise, Meta is introducing ads and paid subscriptions to WhatsApp, signaling a new strategy to monetize its 2 billion users by integrating commercial features directly into the app's Status and Channels tabs.

Meta is bringing advertisements to WhatsApp, marking a major shift for the globally popular messaging app.WhatsApp will now have ads on its Updates tab, Meta announced in a blog post on Monday, June 16.

Meta has officially announced plans to introduce advertisements to WhatsApp, nearly 11 years after acquiring the messaging platform in a $19 billion deal.

WhatsApp has over the years had a strong stance against advertising, with founder CEO Jan Koum highlighting how the company did not want to become “just another ad clearinghouse”.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is personally assembling a team to achieve a “superintelligence,” machines that are capable of surpassing human capabilities, according to a Bloomberg report.