Meta: 10 million advertisers now use its AI ad tools

What happened

Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, reported its results for July to September 2026 on 21 October. Alongside the usual revenue figures, the company shared how quickly advertisers are taking up its AI tools for making ads.

The two numbers that matter most for brands: almost 10 million advertisers now use Meta's AI creative tools, and ads made with creators have become one of its fastest-growing products.

The key details

• AI creative tools: nearly 10 million advertisers used at least one generative AI tool, such as background, text or image variations, in the quarter.
• AI video: advertiser use of video generation features grew 25% quarter over quarter, helped by tools that turn a single uploaded image into a short video ad.
• Creator ads: partnership ads, where a brand runs a creator's post as a paid ad, grew 97% year over year and passed a $15 billion annual revenue run rate.
• Finding creators: the Creator Marketing Hub is now available to all advertisers worldwide, listing more than 10 million creators, and Meta is adding its AI business assistant so brands can search for creators by chatting.
• Ad business: ad revenue rose about 26% year over year, with 10% more ads shown and the average price per ad up 14%.
• What Meta did not say: it gave no separate figure for revenue that comes from its AI ad tools.

The background

Earlier this month at Advertising Week, Meta pushed its AI creative tools to more advertisers and made its static-image-to-video feature generally available (see our Advertising Week story). These results are the first numbers showing how widely those tools are being used.

Meta has said in the past that partnership ads tend to cost less per sale and get more clicks than standard brand ads, because they look and feel like content people already follow. That is why creator-style video has become such a big part of paid social.

What it means for brands

Two things are now clear. First, AI-made ad creative is normal: with 10 million advertisers using these tools, simply having AI variations is no longer an edge. What stands out is creative with a real idea, a consistent look and a product that looks right. Second, creator-style video is where ad money is moving fastest.

Meta's built-in tools are good for quick variations of what you already have. For new concepts, creator-style ads and launch films, brands still need someone to write the hook and direct the look. That is the gap our AI UGC videos are made for: creator-style ads you can test at volume without booking a shoot.