Many of the current conversations surrounding AI developments are centered around the potential redundancies that advancements in the field will force, but Mark Zuckerberg has shockingly revealed an unexpected consequence of the tech that could see his coding teams halved.

Some might not be quite as optimistic about the future of AI as Microsoft founder Bill Gates, as he’s spun mass redundancies into a means of giving people freedom, predicting that people will only have to work two or three days a week thanks to artificial intelligence.

It’s certainly understandable that many remain worried that their jobs are at risk, especially as the biggest targets have been repeatedly outlined, yet AI could seemingly even come for those behind the wheel of its development.

As reported by Mashable, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has revealed a shocking vision of the future during LlamaCon’s recent closing keynote, painting a worrying picture for anyone on his coding team.

Mark Zuckerberg has outlined a worrying future of Meta coding employees in shocking statement (Allison Robbert / Bloomberg / Getty)

Zuckerberg initially asked Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella how much of his company’s code is currently written by AI, but that question was soon shifted back towards the Facebook founder.

He didn’t have the exact numbers to hand, but offered his vision of where he wants his company to be in the near future: “Our bet is sort of that in the next year… maybe half the development is going to be done by AI as opposed to people, and that will kind of increase from there.”

While he isn’t strictly confirming his intentions in this statement, many have taken it to be a signal of intent to get rid of at least half of Meta’s current coding staff, with AI ‘replacing’ their workflow.

However, Zuckerberg has suggested that this move would instead increase productivity, with AI supporting current staff instead of supplanting them.

“Every engineer is effectively going to end up being more of like a tech lead,” he proposed, adding that the AI writing the code will be “their own little army of agents that they work with.”

Someone will need to make sure the code is correct and what is needed, but anyone with a pessimistic outlook would quickly cast doubt on Meta’s willingness to keep on a legion of employees who are simply ‘managing’ AI that’s actually doing the work – and there’s undoubtedly a number of staff members that won’t be too happy to have their job (and skillset) taken away from them.

It also raises questions about the safety of autonomous artificial intelligence in the near future, which one Jeff Bezos-backed CEO has highlighted in particular.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has illustrated that “if AI can independently conduct R&D, that is when we must elevate our safety protocols to new levels,” so with many of the biggest tech companies handing their coding responsibilities over to AI – where its tasks would invariably include further AI development – ethical worries are bound to crop up.

Mark Zuckerberg reveals his dystopian vision for the future.

As more people are becoming dependent on AI for creative help or personal advice – some even bordering on addiction – others are turning to chatbots for more romantic relationships.

However, the Meta CEO isn’t envisioning a future with fewer screens and instead thinks the answer to loneliness is more AI-powered companions. Speaking to tech podcaster Dwarkesh Patel, the Facebook co-founder suggested that people might be better off seeking friendships, therapists and even lovers that are powered by AI, rather than real life.

The 40-year-old referenced a 2021 study that found that the average American has fewer than three friends. But instead of encouraging people to step outside and be more social, Zuckerberg claims the solution lies in AI chatbots, as they are better at understanding people’s likes and preferences than real-life human connections.

Max Steele

@maxasteele

·Follow

“The average American has 3 friends. Our job is to get that number to 0.”

Roman Helmet Guy

@romanhelmetguy

Zuckerberg explaining how Meta is creating personalized AI friends to supplement your real ones: “The average American has 3 friends, but has demand for 15.”

Watch on X

5:09 PM · May 1, 2025

24.8K

Reply

Copy link

Read 94 replies

“I think people are going to want a system that knows them well and that kind of understands them in the way that their feed algorithms do,” Zuckerberg said. “For people who don’t have a person who’s a therapist, I think everyone will have an AI.”

He went on to say that the average person desires about 15 friends, anything beyond that becomes overwhelming. However, his controversial future-telling wasn’t received positively by the majority, especially from other tech industry execs on social media.

Former Instagram executive Meghana Dhar slammed the idea, arguing that AI is the very reason why people feel isolated and disconnected in the first place. “The very platforms that have led to our social isolation and being chronically online are now posing a solution to the loneliness epidemic,” Dhar explained. “It almost seems like the arsonist coming back and being the fireman.”

Zuckerberg thinks the answer to loneliness is more AI-powered companions. (Steve Granitz/Contributor/Getty)

Her theory is backed by science too as one study by the American Psychiatric Association found that one in three Americans experience loneliness every week, with several studies linking those feelings to spending more time online. Similarly, another study found that employees who frequently interact with artificial intelligence systems are more likely to experience loneliness.

With clips of the interview being shared across social media, naturally, people have been expressing their views.

“This quote from Mark Zuckerberg is sad and frightening. Don’t replace friends with AI. Dystopian garbage,” wrote one person on X.

“I’ll take 1/2 of a real friend, over 50 fake ones,” another wrote.

“Whatever this guy sells, I immediately don’t want,” another argued.

You only have to look at the recent emergence of China’s DeepSeek AI sending shockwaves through the American tech industry to see artificial intelligence will be the battleground that future wars are fought on.

While there are fears that AI will lead to a loss of jobs or even eradicate the entire human race as it gains sentience, that hasn’t stopped the tech giants from trying to get in on the ground floor.

Whether it’s Meta, OpenAI, or Tesla it seems everyone wants a slice of the AI pie, with some willing to do anything to ensure they get the biggest.

Now, Meta overlord Mark Zuckerberg has given his chilling prediction of where things are heading. Speaking during leaked meeting audio (shared via Business Insider), Zuckerberg warned staff to ‘buckle up’ for what’s described as an ‘intense’ year at Meta.

Mark Zuckerberg is looking ahead to Meta’s AI future (JULIA DEMAREE NIKHINSON / Contributor / Getty)

During a lengthy opening monologue, Zuckerberg suggested that Meta will be betting big on AI in 2025. Notably, Meta’s ‘highly intelligent and personalized’ digital assistant hopes to reach one billion users by the end of the year. This aligns with Meta’s recent push to flood its platforms with AI-controlled accounts.

Referring to business as sometimes being a marathon and sometimes a sprint, Zuckerberg reiterated that 2025 will fall into the ‘sprint’ category: “I think whoever gets there first is going to have a long-term, durable advantage towards building one of the most important products in history.”

As for the looming idea that AI overtaking will lead to a loss of jobs, Zuckerberg admitted it’s ‘hard to know’. Addressing the idea of robots taking over from humans, he added: “The nature of what engineering is in the future will be different than it is today.”

His critics are sure to raise the fact that he’s already teased a slew of job cuts and their potential replacement by AI software.

Although Zuckerberg dodged the $25 million elephant in the room where Meta has agreed to pay President Donald Trump for suspending his Facebook account, he claims he has to be careful what he says. Discussing spies within Meta, he claimed: “Everything I say leaks. And it sucks, right?”

2025 looks like a big year for Meta’s AI rollout (NurPhoto / Contributor / Getty)

Speaking of the POTUS, Zuckerberg sees this year as one for ‘resetting’ its relationship with the government: “After the last several years, we now have an opportunity to have a productive partnership with the United States government, and we’re going to take that.”

“I think it’s the right thing to do because there are several areas, even if we don’t agree on everything, where we have common cause for things that are going to make it so that we can serve our community better, and we can advance the interests of our country together.”

There have also been worries about Meta removing its third-party fact-checkers and heading toward a community note system similar to X. Even though Zuckerberg has promised it won’t compromise Meta’s ‘principles or values’, there are obvious skeptics.

Some have already vowed to delete their accounts due to recent guideline changes, and while concerns about the tech industry’s growing ties to President Trump continue to grow, it doesn’t sound like Zuckerberg is veering from the path toward this AI future.

Mark Zuckerberg could be forced to sell Instagram as a bombshell trial has exposed some pretty damning emails.

The Meta boss found his business in court this week as an antitrust case against the social media giant began on Monday (April 14).

The US competition and consumer watchdog is accusing Meta of illegally dominating rivals by buying up platforms such as Instagram and WhatsApp.

A lawyer for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Daniel Matheson, said: “They decided that competition was too hard and it would be easier to buy out their rivals than to compete with them.”

Mark Zuckerberg is expected to testify in court in the coming weeks (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

However, Meta’s attorney Mark Hansen has argued that the firm ‘acquired Instagram and WhatsApp to improve and grow them alongside Facebook’.

Zuckerberg is expected to testify in the trial, where he will be questioned about emails he sent.

Yesterday, a memo sent from the Facebook co-founder in 2012 was mentioned by Matheson.

In the message, Zuckerberg talked about the importance of ‘neutralizing’ Instagram.

However, Meta denies the allegations with Hansen saying that ‘acquisitions to improve and grow’ have never been found to be unlawful ‘and they should not be found unlawful here’.

Zuckerberg appeared in court as a witness where he was faced with his own email sent in 2011 which read: “Instagram seems like it’s growing quickly.”

A year later, the billionaire wrote in another email that the business was ‘so far behind that we don’t even understand how far behind we are… I worry that it will take us too long to catch up’.

Defending himself in court, Zuckerberg said that the emails were ‘relatively early’ discussions about buying Instagram.

Meta is being accused of buying rival social media platforms in order to beat the competition (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

He went on to say that he had wanted to purchase the app because of its camera technology.

In a separate email sent to his chief financial officer, David Ebersman in February 2012, Zuckerberg wrote: “These businesses are nascent but the networks established, the brands are already meaningful, and if they grow to a large scale they could be very disruptive to us.

“Given that we think our own valuation is fairly aggressive and that we’re vulnerable in mobile, I’m curious if we should consider going after one or two of them. What do you think?”

According to the Wall Street Journal, Zuckerberg has lobbied President Donald Trump in an attempt to have the FTC case against his company dropped.

If Meta loses the case then it could force Zuckerberg to break up the business, which could mean selling Instagram.