Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg wants to use artificial intelligence to tailor his online platforms more closely to individual users.
01/29/2026, 03:3301/29/2026, 03:33
Today, services from the Facebook group Meta are there to stay in touch with friends or discover interesting things, said Zuckerberg. But soon when you open the meta apps you will encounter an AI “that understands you”.
Mark Zuckerberg is intensifying the AI competition.Image: keystone
This software will be able to recognize people’s “unique personal goals,” he promised. With this knowledge, each individual should then be shown “content that will help them improve their lives the way they want,” announced the Meta boss.
Meta also includes Instagram and the chat service WhatsApp. The group earns its money through online advertising on the platforms – and artificial intelligence should play a larger role here too. This will help users find products that interest them, said Zuckerberg.
Huge investments
The contributions in the apps should also become more interactive with the AI change. For example, a user will be able to create their own game using a voice command to the software and share it with others, Zuckerberg promised. Today it is mainly videos that can be found on the platforms – but Meta does not assume that this will be the “final format”.
To bring about this AI future, Zuckerberg is prepared to make huge investments. For the current year, Meta announced capital investments of between 115 and 135 billion US dollars. In 2025, the group spent a good $72 billion, primarily on expanding data centers for artificial intelligence.
Zuckerberg has great ambitions to surpass rivals such as ChatGPT developer OpenAI as well as Google and Elon Musk’s AI company xAI in artificial intelligence. He is prepared to spend billions on this – even with the risk of building up too much data center capacity.
Advertising pays the AI bet
The money for AI expansion continues to come primarily from the booming advertising business on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. In the last quarter, sales jumped 24 percent year-on-year to almost $59.9 billion. That was above analysts’ expectations. The bottom line is that quarterly profits increased by nine percent to $22.77 billion.
3.58 billion users now access at least one meta app every day – seven percent more than a year ago. Facebook and WhatsApp each have more than two billion daily users, while Instagram is just below the mark, said Zuckerberg.
The Meta share first fell in after-hours US trading – then there was a change in sentiment and the price rose by more than seven percent. The investments planned for this year are above analysts’ expectations. At the same time, Meta exceeded the average forecasts of market experts with a sales outlook of 53.5 to 56.5 billion dollars for the current quarter.
Another huge loss in virtual worlds
In the long-loss-making Reality Labs division, which develops virtual worlds and technology such as VR headsets and computer glasses, the operating loss rose to a good six billion dollars in the last quarter from almost five billion dollars a year earlier. Meta recently turned the red pencil in this area with job cuts. Zuckerberg had placed a big bet on virtual worlds under the name Metaverse – and had the Facebook company renamed Meta to underline the focus.
The Meta boss now said that the division’s developments would still be useful in the AI future. In addition, Reality Labs also develops glasses with a camera and microphone, which differ only slightly from conventional frames but can serve as eyes and ears for the meta-AI. Zuckerberg sees this as an important technology for the future that can provide the software with the context it needs to become more useful. (sda/dpa)