Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said the company’s AI agent technology is advancing more slowly than expected. He also acknowledged shortcomings in Meta’s recent restructuring and workforce changes during an internal town hall. The comments come as Meta continues investing heavily in artificial intelligence despite employee concerns.
Zuckerberg said the company’s organisational overhaul, including layoffs and employee reassignments, was not executed as smoothly as planned. Earlier this year, Meta reduced about 10 percent of its global workforce and reassigned nearly 7,000 employees to AI-focused teams. The restructuring triggered employee criticism and raised concerns about workplace morale. However, the company remains committed to its long-term artificial intelligence strategy.
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The Meta chief said expectations for rapid progress in AI agents had not materialised over the past four months. He explained that executives had expected faster advances in systems capable of performing tasks independently for users. Zuckerberg added that company leaders had been highly optimistic about emerging AI tools when they planned the restructuring earlier this year. Nevertheless, he said those expectations had not yet been fulfilled.
Despite the slower progress, Zuckerberg expressed confidence that Meta would begin seeing more meaningful returns from its AI investments within the next three to six months. The company is projected to spend up to $145 billion on artificial intelligence infrastructure this year. The investment forms part of the broader technology industry’s spending of more than $700 billion on AI development.
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Meanwhile, Meta Chief Technology Officer Andrew Bosworth addressed concerns over the company’s mouse-tracking software. He said an internal review found no employee data had been used to train artificial intelligence models. Bosworth added that if the programme resumes after the investigation, employee participation will be voluntary through an opt-in system.