In today’s Digest, we cover Meta launching a UK ad-free subscription, Trump signing TikTok’s transfer to US owners, and OpenAI planning an in-house ad tech build.

Meta launches UK ad-free subscription

Meta is introducing a subscription service in the UK that will allow Facebook and Instagram users to pay for an ad-free experience. UK users of Facebook and Instagram users will receive a notification in the coming weeks, offering the option to subscribe for £2.99 per month on desktop or £3.99 on iOS and Android. The higher mobile pricing according to Meta reflects Apple and Google’s purchasing policies.

The subscription covers all accounts linked to a user’s Meta Accounts Center, though additional accounts will cost £2 per month on the web or £3 on iOS and Android.

While subscribers won’t see ads from Meta, they will still encounter branded and sponsored content from creators and official accounts meaning the experience will not be entirely ad-free.

The move marks a major shift for Meta, whose business is overwhelmingly driven by advertising. "We still believe in an ad-supported internet but subscriptions, as an alternative to seeing personalised advertising, is a well-established and economically viable business model spanning many industries, including media," a Meta spokesperson explained.

Trump orders TikTok transfer to US owners

Trump has signed an executive order outlining terms for a deal to shift TikTok's US operations to US ownership. Under the plan, US investors will take majority control of TikTok’s operations, including a licensed copy of the app’s influential recommendation algorithm. The deal complies with a law that would have forced TikTok’s shutdown in the US without ByteDance's divestment.

American companies are expected to hold around 65% of the US entity, while ByteDance and Chinese investors will retain less than 20%. The new US version of TikTok will be governed by a seven-member board of directors made up of cybersecurity and national security experts, six of whom are American.

OpenAI plans in-house ad tech build

OpenAI is looking to hire a Growth Paid Marketing Platform Engineer to join its newly formed ChatGPT Growth team, tasked with creating systems for campaign management, real-time attribution, and ad platform integrations. The company is bringing in more staff to expand ChatGPT’s marketing reach, with the new job listing hinting at plans to build internal ad tools and on-platform marketing infrastructure. 

According to the listing, the role involves “building the technical infrastructure behind OpenAI’s paid marketing platform”. It adds that this person would be responsible for “developing campaign management tools, integrating with major ad platforms, building real-time attribution and reporting pipelines, and enabling experimentation frameworks to optimise our objectives.” 

The company notes in the listing that “As we are in the early stages of building this platform, we will rely on you to design and implement foundational MarTech infrastructure that make our marketing investments more effective, measurable, and automated”.