Meta Platforms, Inc. is developing a photorealistic, AI-powered 3D clone of its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, designed to interact with and offer guidance to employees in real time. According to a report from the Financial Times, the AI character is being trained on Zuckerberg's tone, mannerisms, vocal patterns, and publicly available statements, as well as his recent thinking on company strategy. Zuckerberg is personally involved in the training and testing process, spending significant time on the project.
The stated goal is to provide employees with scalable, always-available access to "leadership," allowing them to ask questions and receive answers that feel as if they are coming directly from the founder without the need for scheduled meetings. The project is being led by Meta's newly formed Superintelligence Labs, though it remains in early stages. Scaling the technology has proven difficult due to the enormous computing power required to maintain realistic, lag-free interactions.
This initiative marks a significant pivot from Meta's earlier, heavily criticized metaverse efforts, such as the cartoonish Horizon Worlds avatars. The company has been working on photorealistic 3D AI characters for some time and has acquired voice technology companies PlayAI and WaveForms to support this push. Meta's projected capital expenditure for 2026 is between $115 billion and $135 billion, nearly double last year's figure, underscoring its commitment to AI development.
Internally, Meta is pushing employees to embrace AI tools, including building their own AI agents using open-source software called OpenClaw. The company recently launched Muse Spark, a compact AI model from its Superintelligence Labs with capabilities in health reasoning and visual understanding, which caused Meta's stock (META) to jump 7% on the day of its announcement. However, on the day the AI clone story broke, META stock fell 0.69%.
