Oh, surprise: Zuckerberg admits that Meta’s AI agents suck

Meta has invested heavily in artificial intelligence and has restructured numerous employees to achieve this. But at an internal meeting, CEO Mark Zuckerberg now admits that the development of AI agents is falling short of expectations.

AI progress at Meta stalls

Anyone who will be surprised at this point should stand in a corner and remain silent: At an internal staff meeting yesterday, Thursday, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted that the development of AI agents was progressing much more slowly than hoped. The automated systems, which are supposed to independently carry out complex tasks for users in the future, have recently not picked up the expected pace of development.

The company is currently trying to master the balancing act between rapid technological progress and employee satisfaction, said Zuckerberg. In order to remain competitive in the highly competitive field of artificial intelligence, Meta drastically restructured its teams in May. Around 8,000 employees lost their jobs, while around 7,000 more developers were transferred to new and AI-centric departments. Zuckerberg now admitted that things had gone messily and that management had misjudged the timing of the restructuring.

Billions in costs and criticism

As the Reuters news agency reports, Meta is planning to spend up to $145 billion (around €127 billion) this year on the necessary AI infrastructure. Despite the current delays in software development, the CEO assumes that the investments will pay off in the next three to six months. Until then, the company must resolve internal conflicts. A key point of contention in recent weeks has been a training program for internal AI models. The program systematically recorded employees’ keystrokes and mouse movements. After criticism from the workforce and an internal data leak, the project was paused. Chief Technology Officer Andrew Bosworth told the meeting that any possible resumption in the future would be entirely on a voluntary basis.

Corrections to the strategy

The management’s actions severely damaged the trust of the employees, even if the data collected was useful from a technical point of view. Bosworth admitted that morale at the company had reached a low point following the waves of layoffs and surveillance measures. This is now forcing management to make further concessions to the remaining workforce. As a further measure to improve the working atmosphere, management backtracked on forced transfers. Developers now have the opportunity to leave the newly created special departments.