In a company of 79,000 people, getting a reply from the CEO is about as likely as getting one from a head of state. Mark Zuckerberg is a busy man, and most of his employees have never exchanged a single word with him. However, Meta thinks it has a fix for that, and it involves artificial intelligence.
As reported by The Guardian, the company is quietly building a digital version of its founder, trained on his mannerisms, his tone, his management philosophy, and so on. The idea is to help staff feel more connected to one of the most powerful (and notoriously hard to reach) bosses in Silicon Valley.
Zuckerberg is already using a personal "CEO agent" to get internal information faster, and Meta has been developing AI characters capable of real conversation for some time. His clone is simply the next logical step in a company that has gone all-in on artificial intelligence.
Whether employees will actually feel closer to a man they're talking to through a screen playing a simulation of that man through another screen remains, perhaps, an open question.
What isn't in question is Meta's ambition. Zuckerberg wants superintelligence. He wants flatter teams, faster decisions, and AI woven into every corner of his company.
If that means replacing a few town halls with a chatbot that talks like him, well, this version can't lay off 10,000 people, as this other story indicates: Meta reportedly considering major layoffs to offset AI costs.