Meta's latest AI acquisition reveals its real priority

Meta has acquired Stilla, a Stockholm-based startup founded in 2024, to accelerate the development of Meta Business Agent. Stilla previously raised $5 million in pre-seed funding and was created by founders who built Shop and Shop Pay at Shopify. Its core product connects workplace tools like Slack, GitHub, and Notion to maintain shared context between humans and AI agents.

This technology provides Meta Business Agent with a vital coordination layer it previously lacked, moving beyond basic product catalogs and FAQs to work with deeper context across a merchant's full tool stack. Meta Business Agent operates across WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram, where it already serves over one million businesses by handling customer inquiries, recommending products, booking appointments, and qualifying sales leads.

The acquisition highlights Meta's operating priority to monetize commerce through messaging rather than participating in the general chatbot arms race. This shift aligns with growing non-advertising revenue, which crossed $1 billion in a single quarter for the first time in mid-2026, driven by tools like Business Agent and paid messaging subscriptions. Meta plans to expand its footprint in Sweden following the deal to tap into the region's AI talent pool.