Speaking during an internal town hall on Thursday, Zuckerberg told employees that the pace of AI agent development over the past four months had been slower than expected, according to a recording of the meeting heard by Reuters.
The remarks offer a candid assessment from the Meta boss as the company continues to invest heavily in artificial intelligence while competing with rivals in the rapidly evolving AI race.
Reflecting on the company's strategy, Zuckerberg said executives initially believed Meta needed to move much faster to keep pace with industry developments.
"Conversations I was having with our top people when we started planning this in January and February were that they were worried that we weren't going to move fast enough to adapt," Zuckerberg said.
He explained that management had been particularly encouraged by breakthroughs from AI companies, including Anthropic's Claude Code, which fueled expectations that AI agents would advance rapidly.
"At the time, we were super optimistic," he said.
However, Zuckerberg admitted those expectations have yet to materialize.
"I think the kind of trajectory of the agentic development over at least the last four months hasn't really accelerated in the way that we expected," he said, adding that the company's restructuring and strategic bets "haven't come to fruition yet."
The Meta CEO also acknowledged that the company's recent organizational overhaul, which included significant job cuts, did not unfold as smoothly as intended.
According to Zuckerberg, the restructuring process "was not as clean as it could have been," with company executives misjudging the timing of the changes as they sought to position Meta for its AI-driven future.
Despite the slower-than-expected progress, Zuckerberg expressed confidence that Meta's massive investments in artificial intelligence would soon begin delivering stronger results.
He told employees that the company expects to see more meaningful benefits from its AI spending within the next three to six months.
Meta is projected to spend as much as $145 billion on AI infrastructure this year, representing a substantial share of the more than $700 billion Big Tech companies are collectively expected to invest in artificial intelligence.
A Meta spokesperson declined to comment on the CEO's remarks.
The town hall also addressed concerns surrounding a recent data security incident involving Meta's employee monitoring software.
Chief Technology Officer Andrew Bosworth said an internal review found that no employee data had been used to train the company's AI systems.
Last month, Meta suspended the controversial software—which tracks employees' mouse movements and other digital activities for AI training purposes—after sensitive information was exposed during its operation.
Bosworth said that if the monitoring program is reinstated after the investigation is completed, employees will be allowed to participate on an opt-in basis.
The move marks a shift from Meta's initial rollout in April, when the software was installed on the computers of U.S. employees without an option to decline participation.