Meta's AI agent progress slower than expected, Zuckerberg tells staff

What happened

At an internal town hall on Thursday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg told employees that the pace of AI agent development has not accelerated in the way executives previously expected. Earlier this year, Meta laid off approximately 8,000 employees (about 10% of its corporate workforce) and reassigned another 7,000 to AI groups, including one called Agent Transformation.

Why it matters

Zuckerberg acknowledged that the job cuts were not as clean as intended and were made because executives feared the company would not move fast enough to adapt to changes in the tech industry. He also said the perceived upside from the new AI-focused structure has not materialized yet, though he expects improvements within the next three to six months. Meta is expected to spend as much as $145 billion（約23兆円） on AI infrastructure this year.

What to watch

Zuckerberg believes the company will begin seeing returns from its AI investments during the next three to six months. The stakes are significant given Meta's commitment of as much as $145 billion（約23兆円） on AI infrastructure this year.