Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has acknowledged that the company’s efforts to develop AI agents are progressing more slowly than anticipated, even as the social media giant pours billions of dollars into artificial intelligence infrastructure and reorganises its workforce around AI-focused initiatives.

Speaking during a company town hall, Zuckerberg said the pace of progress in AI agents had not accelerated as expected in recent months. His remarks come as Meta undertakes one of the largest AI investments in the technology industry, while simultaneously cutting jobs and restructuring teams to support its long-term artificial intelligence ambitions.

Zuckerberg Says AI Agent Progress Has Lagged Expectations

According to a Reuters report, Zuckerberg told employees that the development of AI agents had not advanced at the rate Meta had hoped.

“The trajectory of the agentic development over at least the last four months hasn’t really accelerated in the way that we expected,” he said.

AI agents are software tools powered by artificial intelligence models that can perform tasks on behalf of users with limited human intervention.

Despite the slower progress, Zuckerberg maintained that Meta remains committed to its broader goal of achieving what he described as “superintelligence”.

He said the company expects to begin seeing more tangible benefits from its AI investments over the next three to six months.

Meta’s AI ambitions have included acquisitions aimed at strengthening its capabilities in the sector. The company previously acquired Moltbook, a social media platform focused on AI agents, and integrated its team into Meta’s AI development efforts.

Massive AI Investment Accompanied By Workforce Changes

Meta has significantly increased spending on artificial intelligence, with the company projected to invest as much as USD 145 billion in AI infrastructure this year.

At the same time, the company has reduced costs in other areas through a series of workforce changes.

In May, Meta laid off approximately 8,000 employees, representing around 10 per cent of its global workforce. It also reassigned roughly 7,000 employees to AI-focused teams and cancelled plans to fill around 6,000 previously approved positions.

Earlier this year, the company established a new Applied AI division and transferred approximately 6,500 engineers and product managers from other departments into AI-related roles.

Zuckerberg said concerns about the pace of organisational change had emerged among senior leaders earlier in the year.

According to the Meta chief executive, some of the company’s top executives felt during January and February that Meta was not moving quickly enough to adapt to the rapidly evolving AI landscape.

He noted that leadership teams had been particularly optimistic about emerging AI development tools, including Anthropic’s Claude Code.

Restructuring Faces Internal Criticism

While Meta’s restructuring was designed to accelerate AI development, Zuckerberg acknowledged that the effort has not yet delivered the outcomes the company anticipated.

“Haven’t come to fruition yet,” he said when discussing the results of the organisational overhaul.

Reports suggest that some employees were dissatisfied with the changes, particularly the reassignment of workers into new AI-focused teams.

Meta’s Chief Technology Officer, Andrew Bosworth, has also publicly acknowledged shortcomings in how the restructuring process was communicated.

According to reports, Bosworth told employees in an internal memo that Meta had done an “atrocious” job of explaining the rationale behind the changes and the company’s broader vision.

Meta Addresses Concerns Over Employee Monitoring

The town hall also touched on concerns surrounding Meta’s use of workplace monitoring tools.

In April, the company began testing software designed to track employee mouse movements and keystrokes as part of efforts to train AI agents. The initiative prompted criticism from employees and raised concerns about privacy.

Following the backlash, Meta paused the programme and conducted an internal review.

Bosworth told staff that the review found no employee data had been used to train AI systems.

He added that if the programme were reinstated in the future, participation would remain voluntary.

“For people who are comfortable, that’s great, they can contribute to this kind of great human survey. To people who are not, it is not an issue,” Bosworth said.

Zuckerberg’s comments highlight the challenges facing Meta as it seeks to transform itself into an AI-first company. Despite committing vast financial resources and reorganising its workforce around artificial intelligence, the company is still working to translate those investments into meaningful advances in AI products and services.

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