Meta's $19 billion bid to own messaging in the US gains steam — and AI could give it an edge over Apple's iMessage

• Meta is on a mission to dominate messaging apps in the US , and AI is helping it gain steam.
• WhatsApp hit 100 million monthly active US users last week; it has more than 2 billion globally.
• WhatsApp's domestic ads in recent years have focused on privacy and interoperability.

Meta's bid to dominate messaging in the US is gaining some steam.

After buying WhatsApp in 2014 for $19 billion in cash and stock, Meta last week reached a milestone, crossing 100 million monthly active users of the messaging app in the US.

While WhatsApp is widely used worldwide — it notched 2 billion users globally in 2020 — it hasn't gained as strong a foothold in the US, trailing behind other messaging services, most notably Apple's iMessage.

WhatsApp has been spending big on marketing in the US, touting its encryption and the fact it doesn't have green and blue text bubbles like Apple devices . A recent ad featured the cast of "Modern Family."

Carl Woog, who leads communications for WhatsApp, previously told Business Insider's Peter Kafka that the messaging app is focusing on users outside big US cities and those under the age of 35.

WhatsApp's year-over-year growth rate in the US is above 10%, he added.

On the AI front, WhatsApp has AI assistant Meta AI, powered by Meta's Llama 3. Apple, meanwhile, was originally expected to bring Apple Intelligence to iOS 18 this fall, but that's now reportedly delayed .

Meta AI can be used on WhatsApp to do things like answer questions or generate images. It could be a key differentiator between WhatsApp and Apple's iMessage — at least while Apple's is apparently delayed.

Morningstar analysts have said weaving AI into Meta's various platforms — including WhatsApp — should increase user engagement. That will also help Meta as a company, allowing it to grow advertising on those platforms as they attract more eyeballs. Still, they also warned that Meta's competitors will continue to innovate, and Meta's users are already on lots of other platforms, so Meta will have to "continually fight to capture a user's time."

Zuckerberg hasn't shied away from discussing his plans for WhatsApp's growth.

He told The New York Times in an interview last year that the messaging app is Meta's "next chapter" and could play a critical role in business messaging.

The year prior, he said in an internal company meeting that "business messaging is probably going to be the next major pillar of our business as we work to monetize WhatsApp and Messenger more," Reuters reported .