Meta announced commercial data licensing agreements with eight top media outlets, including CNN, Fox News, Le Monde, and USA Today. These will provide real-time news Q&A and article links within Meta AI chatbots. The initial content covers global breaking news, entertainment, and local news. Users can click on the sources to access the information directly. Partners benefit from new traffic and revenue sharing — this is the first large-scale payment for news content by Meta since it stopped paying for news in 2022 and removed the "News" label from Facebook in 2024.

Scope: 200 countries, all platforms, real-time

  • Access points: Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and standalone Meta AI App
  • Language batches: English, French, and Spanish content launched first, expanding to Asia-Pacific and Latin America in Q1 2025
  • Format: A "News Card" and "Read Full Article" link appear below the Q&A, which leads directly to the media's official website

Revenue model: CPC + Display billing, amount undisclosed

  • Compared to the 2022 "zero payment," this time the payment is based on "click-through" and "card display," similar to Google News Showcase standards
  • Participating media include CNN, Fox News, Fox Sports, Le Monde Group, People Inc., The Daily Caller, The Washington Examiner, and USA Today; Meta said it will continue to expand the list

Technical foundation: Llama4 real-time news RAG

  • Llama4+ news专线 RAG is used, with response delay less than 800ms, supporting follow-up questions and multi-turn summaries
  • All summaries are marked with the source logo to avoid "hallucination attribution"; if errors occur, media can request corrections within 24 hours

Strategic intent: Llama4 reputation redemption + social engagement

  • Llama4 faced performance controversies and was criticized by developers; Meta urgently needs a "real-time information" feature to regain developer confidence
  • Social integration: In WhatsApp group chats, users can directly @Meta AI to ask "the score of last night's game," and group members can get news cards without switching browsers, increasing conversation duration

Regulation and competition: "Non-discrimination" test under EU DMA

  • The EU Digital Markets Act classifies Meta as a "gatekeeper," requiring news features to undergo "non-preference of own content" audits
  • Compared to Google News Showcase and Apple News+: Meta does not build an independent app but embeds news into chat streams, reducing user switching costs

Next steps: Audio news and local media

Meta revealed that in 2025, it will include radio, podcasts, and TikTok trends in real-time indexing and open the "Local News API" for regional media to self-integrate, aiming to collaborate with 1,000 publishers within three years.

With the Facebook "News" tag now a thing of the past, Meta is returning to the content arena through "chat as news": lightweight, no need for an editorial team, no need to take the homepage, but instead embedding news cards into the chat flow of 3 billion monthly active users. If the conversion rate meets targets, this model could become a new weapon for social giants to counter TikTok's "short video shopping." AIbase will continue to track its CPC rate, jump-through conversion rate, and future audio news developments.