Industry Odisha Bureau, July 30: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg believes billions of people will have personal AI agents within the next 5 years. This statement comes as the company ramps up spending to lead the AI race.
Speaking during Meta’s latest earnings call, Zuckerberg said AI agents will understand users’ goals and work on their behalf around the clock. Unlike chatbots, AI agents can automate tasks and complete them in the background without constant user input.
Zuckerberg said, “I think it’s extremely unlikely that you don’t have billions of people with a personal agent working on your behalf 24/7.” He also added that these agents will drive Meta’s next generation of products and revenue.
However, the AI push is proving to be expensive. Meta’s free cash flow fell 91% year-on-year to $784 million in the second quarter from $8.55 billion a year earlier. This came after the company invested heavily in AI infrastructure. IT also raised the lower end of its 2026 capital expenditure forecast to $130 billion from $125 billion.
Notably, Meta is not alone. Alphabet recently reported negative free cash flow as Google continues to pour billions into AI development.
Zuckerberg also said selling AI-powered intelligence could be more profitable than renting computing power to customers. Meta plans to double its computing capacity to 7GW this year and 14GW next year.
