Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says AI agent progress slower than expected

Meta Platforms chief executive Mark Zuckerberg told employees that the development of AI agent technology has slowed and is not meeting the company’s expectations. In a town‑hall meeting he said the trajectory over the past four months has "not really accelerated" as hoped, despite the firm’s multibillion‑dollar AI investment.

Zuckerberg acknowledged that the large‑scale restructuring earlier this year – which included cutting about 8,000 jobs (roughly 10% of the workforce) and moving 7,000 engineers into AI‑focused teams – has not been managed as cleanly as intended. He also addressed the controversial mouse‑tracking program that monitored U.S. staff activity to train AI agents, noting it has been paused while privacy concerns are reviewed.

Meta plans to spend $125‑$145 billion on AI‑related infrastructure this year, a sizable increase from earlier forecasts, and expects tangible benefits from these investments within the next six months. The slowdown comes as Meta competes with rivals such as Google, OpenAI and Anthropic for leadership in advanced AI.