Mark Zuckerberg says WhatsApp is the 'next chapter' for Meta and could become a bedrock for business messaging

• Mark Zuckerberg signaled big changes to WhatsApp, which he sees as the future of business messaging.
• The Meta chief said last year that WhatsApp and Messenger were still "very early in monetizing."

Mark Zuckerberg has hinted that a shakeup of the features available on WhatsApp is on the cards.

The Meta chief told The New York Times in an interview that the messaging app is the "next chapter" for Meta and could play a critical role in business messaging.

"Now that everyone has mobile phones and are basically producing content and messaging all day long, I think you can do something that's a lot better and more intimate than just a feed of all your friends," Zuckerberg told The Times.

He added: "If you're envisioning what will be the private social platform of the future, starting from scratch, I think it would basically look like WhatsApp."

Meta acquired WhatsApp for $19 billion in 2014. Five years later, it launched several features, including WhatsApp for Business, to help companies connect and communicate with customers.

Zuckerberg said at an internal company meeting last year that business messaging "is probably going to be the next major pillar of our business" and that WhatsApp and the Messenger app are still "very early in monetizing," Reuters reported.

That could come in the form of ads in Status and Channels, Will Cathcart, the head of WhatsApp, told Brazilian newspaper Folha de S.Paulo.

"There could be ads in other places — channels or status. For example, channels might charge people to subscribe, they might be exclusive to paid members or the owners might want to promote the channel. But, no, we won't put ads in your inbox," Cathcart said.

Meta didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, made outside of normal working hours.