Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg says he believes billions of people will have their own personal artificial intelligence (AI) agents within the next five years, capable of understanding users' goals and working continuously on their behalf.
Speaking during Meta's quarterly earnings call with investors, Zuckerberg said AI agents will evolve beyond answering questions to proactively helping people achieve their objectives.
"I think that it's extremely unlikely... 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," Zuckerberg said.
He said these AI assistants could help users manage finances, health, personal relationships and household responsibilities.
Messaging apps to play a bigger role
Zuckerberg said platforms such as WhatsApp will become increasingly important as people begin interacting with multiple AI agents.
According to him, WhatsApp is already the primary platform where users engage with Meta AI, positioning the messaging service at the centre of the company's long-term AI strategy.
Meta has also expanded its AI-powered business agents globally across WhatsApp and Messenger, with more than one million businesses already using the tools.
Heavy AI investment weighs on finances
The prediction comes as Meta continues investing heavily in artificial intelligence infrastructure.
The company reported free cash flow of $784 million for the latest quarter, down sharply from $8.55 billion during the same period last year, reflecting rising spending on AI infrastructure and data centres.
Meta's Reality Labs division, which develops augmented reality glasses, virtual reality headsets and related technologies, posted another quarterly loss of approximately $4.6 billion, bringing cumulative losses since 2021 to around $88 billion.
Meanwhile, Meta and investment firm BlackRock recently announced plans to develop a $14 billion AI data centre in El Paso, Texas.
Competition in the AI race
Meta is not alone in pursuing AI agents capable of acting independently on behalf of users.
Technology companies including Google and Anthropic are also investing heavily in AI systems that can perform tasks, write code and automate workflows with minimal human input.
Despite growing competition and investor concerns over mounting AI costs, Zuckerberg said personal AI agents will become the foundation of Meta's future products and revenue streams.
He acknowledged that consumer adoption may take time but expressed confidence that AI assistants will eventually become a mainstream part of everyday life.
