Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg told investors he expects billions of people to use personal AI agents within five years, positioning the technology as a core driver of new products and revenue streams. The comments came as Meta shares fell nearly 10% after quarterly results showed continued heavy spending on AI and Reality Labs, which posted a $4.6 billion loss for the quarter and roughly $88 billion in cumulative losses since 2021. Free cash flow dropped 91% year over year to $784 million, pressured by AI infrastructure outlays, including a $14 billion data center partnership with BlackRock in El Paso, Texas. Zuckerberg argued margins will be higher selling “intelligence” than compute and pointed to more than one million businesses already using Meta’s agents on WhatsApp and Messenger. The push faces competition from Google and Anthropic, which are promoting agentic systems, and lingering investor skepticism over Meta’s capital intensity.
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