WhatsApp has officially crossed three billion monthly active users, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced during the company’s Q1 earnings call on Wednesday.
The milestone places the messaging app in an elite group of platforms—alongside Facebook—that serve over three billion people worldwide.
Launched in 2009 and acquired by Facebook for $19 billion in 2014, WhatsApp remains free and ad-free, with a user base that continues to grow steadily. It last hit the 2 billion user mark in 2020, making the latest milestone a significant leap for the app—and for Meta’s broader ambitions.
WhatsApp’s enormous global reach has turned it into a strategic platform for Meta, particularly as the company deepens its focus on artificial intelligence. Meta CFO Susan Li noted that WhatsApp is currently the most active platform for users engaging with Meta AI, primarily through one-on-one chats.
“We see people engage with Meta AI from several different entry points. WhatsApp continues to see the strongest Meta AI usage across our family of apps,” Li said.
Zuckerberg added that while WhatsApp is a natural entry point for AI experiences in many global markets, Meta faces a unique challenge in the United States, where most users still rely on default text messaging apps. To address this, the company has launched a standalone Meta AI app to drive adoption stateside.
“We’re in a different position in the U.S. than in most of the world,” Zuckerberg said. “We hope to become the leader over time, and the Meta AI app will be particularly important in establishing that leadership in personal AI.”
On the business front, WhatsApp Business—the app’s commercial messaging platform—continues to expand. Meta revealed that the platform contributed significantly to the $510 million in revenue generated by its family of apps during the quarter.
To support this growth, Meta is testing new AI tools tailored for businesses. Li said the company is developing an AI agent management dashboard that would allow businesses to train Meta’s AI using their own data, including websites, WhatsApp profiles, and social media pages. Meta is also experimenting with AI-powered customer chats on WhatsApp, aiming to automate and enhance customer service.
