Meta Targets Early September for Hatch, Its Consumer AI Agent

Meta Platforms is reportedly planning to launch a consumer AI agent, known internally as Hatch, within the coming weeks. Documents reviewed by The Information also show an October target for a new model, Watermelon.

The release anchors Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg’s ambition to monetize Meta’s AI investments and diversify revenue. The AI spending has weighed substantially on the company’s cash flow.

Meta Plans Subscription AI Agent Hatch as It Seeks To Diversify Revenue

Meta has weighed a tiered subscription for Hatch, according to the documents. Premium access could cost up to $199.99 per month and include higher usage limits. The documents put the release in late August or early September.

The stakes show up in Meta’s own numbers. The firm reported $60.8 billion in second-quarter revenue. Advertising delivered $59.4 billion of that, more than 97% of the total. 

Everything else is quite small. Reality Labs brought in $431 million, while other revenue reached $1.01 billion.

Meanwhile, the AI buildout continues to grow. Meta raised the floor of its 2026 capital expenditure range to $130 billion from $125 billion. The ceiling stayed at $145 billion.

Capital expenditures reached $31.08 billion in the quarter. Operating cash flow of $31.86 billion left just $784 million in free cash flow. The figure was $8.55 billion a year earlier.

Investors have not rewarded the buildout so far. META closed Monday at $559.02, valuing the company at nearly $1.42 trillion, and the shares have fallen by over 15% this year.

A youth-safety trial in Oakland has also added pressure. Bank of America keeps a Buy rating and an $810 target. Mizuho is wary, comparing the case to the tobacco litigation of the 1990s.

Hatch would give Meta a consumer revenue line that does not depend on advertisers. Whether subscribers pay enough to matter against a $145 billion spending year is the open question.

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What Meta’s AI Agent Will Do

Hatch has been trained to work across DoorDash, Etsy, Reddit, Yelp, and Outlook. Early prototypes show a customizable dashboard featuring tools and skills created by AI agents.

Meta is also preparing a WhatsApp platform that lets users integrate and interact with third-party AI agents. The company could begin testing the platform with a limited group of users as soon as this week.

The company has shipped several models this year. Muse Spark arrived in April, version 1.1 in July, and version 1.2 alongside the Muse Code agent in August. 

Whether Watermelon will join the Muse family remains unclear. Meta is estimated to report its third-quarter earnings on October 28, the same month Watermelon is due. Neither product will have had long to prove its economics by then.

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