Meta pushes deeper into social commerce with creator tools and AI on Reels

Meta Platforms is stepping up its presence in the fast-moving social commerce space, introducing new tools that connect creators, artificial intelligence, and advertising more closely to actual purchases, particularly across Instagram and Reels.

The latest rollout signals a shift from passive product discovery toward a system where engagement can translate more directly into measurable sales outcomes.

A key part of the strategy centres on expanding the role of creators in the shopping journey. Businesses across 22 countries, including India, will soon be able to share product catalogues with creators, enabling them to tag and link items directly within Reels content. The change effectively turns creator posts into shoppable storefronts, narrowing the gap between entertainment and commerce.

Meta said its creator marketplace now includes more than 1.5 million discoverable creators. New filters within Ads Manager allow brands to identify suitable partners with more precision, improving campaign alignment.

“This makes it easier than ever for businesses to quickly identify creators who are a good match for their goals and likely to perform well in their partnership ads campaigns,” the company said.

“Partnership Ads has moved influencer marketing from a brand-building line item to a marketing channel tied to outcomes,” said Vikas Chawla, pointing to the growing ability to measure creator-led performance.

Meta is also increasing its focus on Reels as a space where users are more likely to engage with ads. The company has expanded its “Reels Trending Ads” into categories such as business, finance, travel, and entertainment, placing brands alongside content that is already drawing strong engagement.

“We’re now part of conversations consumers are already having… the performance uplift has been hard to ignore,” said Sadhvi Dhawan.

At the same time, artificial intelligence is becoming a central component of Meta’s commerce stack alongside creators.

The company is extending its Advantage+ suite with generative AI tools that automate video production, voiceovers, and translations. These tools are designed to lower the effort needed to produce localised, high-volume ad creatives.

Meta is also testing a feature called “product set optimisation,” which allows advertisers to prioritise specific products within larger catalogues. Early results show a 17% drop in cost per purchase for promoted items.

Automated catalog video tools are also gaining traction. These tools convert static listings into video ads and are delivering up to 20% more conversions per dollar, further improving campaign efficiency.

Meta prepares new AI models as competition intensifies

Alongside its commerce push, Meta is advancing its artificial intelligence roadmap with plans to release its first models developed under Alexandr Wang. Some versions are expected to be offered under an open-source license.

Meta has long stood out among major U.S. tech firms for allowing developers to modify its frontier models. However, rising competition in AI is prompting questions over whether that level of openness will continue.

The company continues to emphasise its distribution advantage. By embedding AI tools across platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram, Meta can reach billions of users globally, often without direct cost. That scale remains difficult for rivals to match and forms a key part of its strategy to close the gap with competitors.

Meta has also introduced Muse Spark, its first model from the Meta Superintelligence Labs unit. The system is positioned as a step toward “personal superintelligence” capable of reasoning, using tools, and coordinating multiple agents on behalf of users.

A core feature of Muse Spark is its “Contemplating” mode, which runs several agents in parallel before producing a response. Meta describes it as an answer to advanced reasoning systems such as those seen in models like Gemini Deep Think and GPT Pro.

The company’s push into AI has also involved internal restructuring. Reports indicate that Meta has cut hundreds of roles as it redirects resources toward priority engineering projects tied to its AI ambitions.