Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is betting big on a future where personal AI agents become ubiquitous. Speaking during the company’s quarterly earnings call on Wednesday, he predicted that within the next five years, billions of people will each have their own AI agent—a virtual assistant that understands their goals and works on their behalf around the clock.
“I think it’s extremely unlikely, looking out five years from now, that you don’t have billions of people with a personal agent that understands your goals and is just working on your behalf 24/7 to achieve them in whatever domain you care about,” Zuckerberg told investors.
He outlined a vision where these agents help users manage finances, health, relationships, and household tasks. Zuckerberg also emphasized the growing importance of messaging platforms like WhatsApp and Messenger, noting that WhatsApp is already the leading platform for interactions with Meta AI.
Industry-Wide AI Agent Push
Meta is not alone in betting on AI agents that act on a user’s behalf rather than just answering questions. In 2026, Google highlighted custom AI agents as a centerpiece of its Search overhaul, a move that drew backlash from users overwhelmed by the increasing presence of AI-generated results. Meanwhile, subscriptions to Anthropic’s Claude have soared as engineers embrace its agentic coding assistant, Claude Code.
Investor Concerns Amid Heavy Spending
Despite this industry-wide momentum, Meta faces significant investor skepticism. The company’s stock dropped nearly 10% after reporting its latest quarterly earnings, reflecting concerns about its massive investments in unproven technologies.
Meta’s Reality Labs division—responsible for AR glasses, VR headsets, and related software—posted a $4.6 billion loss this quarter, consistent with its performance since 2021. The division’s cumulative losses now total roughly $88 billion.
More troubling for investors is the rapid rise in AI-related spending. Meta reported free cash flow of just $784 million for the quarter, down 91% from $8.55 billion in the same period last year. The decline is largely driven by investments in AI infrastructure, including a recently announced $14 billion data center partnership with BlackRock in El Paso, Texas.
Zuckerberg remains bullish on the economics of AI. “We believe there will continue to be a significantly higher margin on selling intelligence rather than selling compute directly, but we think there’s a big opportunity to sell compute as well,” he said.
Early Adoption and the Road Ahead
Meta’s business AI agents, now available globally on WhatsApp and Messenger, have already been adopted by more than one million businesses. But transitioning from business tools to consumer-level personal agents—which Zuckerberg envisions will serve billions—remains a significant challenge.
“Ultimately, we believe that the personal agents we are developing will serve as the foundation for our next wave of products and revenue lines in the months and years ahead,” Zuckerberg said. While the road to billions is long, the company is betting that starting now is the only way to get there.
via TechCrunch AI