With AI, Meta wants to replace advertising agencies such as Publicis and WPP

Meta is accelerating its transformation into an artificial intelligence giant by targeting the advertising world. According to the Wall Street Journal, the California-based group plans to entrust its entire advertising process—from creation to targeting—to its own AI tools by the end of 2025. This small revolution sent Publicis and WPP shares down on the stockmarket on Monday.

The project is as simple as it is radical: a brand provides a product image and a budget, and AI takes care of the rest. Creating visuals, writing copy, generating videos, setting up campaigns, real-time targeting based on Facebook and Instagram data... Everything is automated, optimized, and calibrated for performance. Advertising on autopilot, entirely driven by Menlo Park's algorithms, according to the WSJ.

Mark Zuckerberg admits it: advertisers want "measurable results on a large scale." And Meta intends to become a one-stop shop where any company, large or small, simply sets its objectives and AI takes care of the rest. A dream come true for SMEs, but a headache for traditional agencies.

The markets reacted immediately. Publicis fell 3.8% in Paris, the biggest drop in the CAC 40, while WPP lost 2.8% in London. Despite their investments in AI—Adobe's Firefly for Publicis, WPP Open for its British rival—these giants remain dependent on more complex structures tailored to large accounts. Meta, on the other hand, is betting on simplicity and immediacy.

Faced with Meta and its 3.43 billion active users, the advantage seems uneven. Especially since the company relies directly on user behavior, while agencies are still juggling third-party data.