Meta CEO says AI agent progress lagged over four months

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has told employees that the company's development of AI agents has progressed more slowly than anticipated over the past four months. The admission came during an internal town hall on Thursday, July 2, 2026, according to a recording.

Zuckerberg stated that AI agent development "had not accelerated in the way we expected." He also described a recent major company reorganization, which included significant job cuts, as not having been as "clean" as it could have been, adding that the company's bets on the new structure "haven't come to fruition yet." He expressed a belief that the company would begin to see more significant benefits from its massive AI investments within the next three to six months.

The comments mark a notable shift from the company's earlier bullishness. Earlier this year, Meta had described 2026 as a breakthrough year for AI agents beginning to work. The company has projected spending as much as $145 billion on AI infrastructure this year.

Despite the slower progress, Meta has launched one notable product, the Meta Business Agent, which began rolling out in early June to help businesses manage customer interactions. Internally, the...