Tensions had been excessive inside Meta forward of Mark Zuckerberg’s first all-hands assembly of the yr.
Worker-submitted questions for the CEO touched on a few massive themes: issues about his announcement that “low-performers” could be let go on February tenth, his MAGA-fueled adjustments to Meta’s content material moderation insurance policies and DEI packages, and his remark to Joe Rogan about wanting extra “masculine power” within the office. “Are the adjustments we’re seeing (in any method) influenced by the brand new U.S. president?” requested one worker forward of the interior assembly. “If that’s the case, why are we making adjustments primarily based on these elements?”
With numerous the rank and file clearly on edge, Zuckerberg made certain there could be fewer alternatives for drama throughout immediately’s Q&A. Earlier than it began, HR notified workers that “we are going to skip questions that we count on may be unproductive in the event that they leak.” For the primary time, essentially the most upvoted worker questions had been not ranked for everybody to see and feedback had been disabled through the livestream.
Earlier than leaping into the Q&A, Zuckerberg addressed the adjustments head on: “We attempt to be actually open after which every thing I say leaks. It sucks.”
“We’re going to attempt to handle all the primary themes and matters however, for the place we at the moment are, there are only a bunch of issues that I feel are value-destroying for me to speak about,” he continued. “So I’m simply not going to speak about these.” (Meta declined to remark for this story.)
There have been nonetheless some issues Zuckerberg was comfy addressing. Fears a couple of return-to-office coverage change? “I simply haven’t been targeted on this in any respect. I feel the established order is ok. Stick with it.” The rationale behind ending some worker perks, like free EV charging on the workplace, when Meta is printing cash? “A part of the rationale why we’re doing nicely financially is as a result of we’re being disciplined on prices.”
What concerning the looming “low-performer” layoffs? “The appropriate factor to do is simply rip the band-aid off,” he stated. “I feel, in numerous methods, it’s a nicer factor to do for people who find themselves in all probability not going to finish up making it anyway.”
Clad in a gold chain and white lengthy sleeve shirt, Zuckerberg defined his resolution to finish Meta’s variety, fairness, and inclusion packages: “I feel the route of the coverage and regulatory and authorized route on numerous these items is you could’t do issues that benefit particular teams, even when you’re attempting to make up for different issues.”
He famous that “we’re in all probability going to carry again” unconscious bias coaching for workers however that it wouldn’t “simply focus” on a “few teams of underrepresented kinds of folks.” Janelle Gale, Meta’s head of HR, then jumped in to say “we’ve zero tolerance for harassment or discrimination of any variety,” that the corporate will “proceed to recruit from a broad expertise pool” and “have fun” Black Historical past Month.
As to why he overhauled Meta’s content material guidelines to enable for issues like calling trans folks “mentally sick,” Zuckerberg framed the choice this manner: “There have been a bunch of insurance policies that we applied over time that type of narrowed what folks might say on our companies. Frankly, we had been simply method out of the mainstream. Once we say that somebody can say one thing on our companies, it doesn’t essentially imply that we agree with that factor. It simply signifies that we need to be a platform the place folks can talk about issues.”
“We simply have this vast open area proper now”
Zuckerberg kicked off the assembly largely reiterating his predictions on AI and good glasses from Meta’s earnings name the day earlier than. He went into extra element on the corporate’s good glasses with Ray-Ban, which he stated offered over 1 million items final yr. (That is the primary time Meta has shared an official gross sales stat on the glasses extensively.)
“Quite a lot of the large hit merchandise of their third era reached 5 to 10 million items,” Zuckerberg stated. “So I feel one of many questions for us is, are we going to go from 1 million this yr to 2 million? Are we going to go from 1 million to five million?”
Whereas he didn’t point out it through the assembly, Meta is planning to introduce a dear pair of good glasses with a heads-up show, codenamed Hypernova, later this yr. They aren’t designed by Ray-Ban or its father or mother firm EssilorLuxottica, however I count on the eyewear big to play a job of their industrial rollout. Meta can be working with EssilorLuxottica on Oakley good glasses for athletes.
“We principally invented the class and our rivals haven’t actually proven up but and they’ll,” Zuckerberg stated in immediately’s assembly. “I feel we’ll in all probability begin seeing a few of that perhaps a bit later this yr, perhaps subsequent yr. However we simply have this vast open area proper now to run and principally introduce as many individuals as attainable to Meta AI glasses and we should always take that chance.”
Another highlights from Zuckerberg’s Q&A:
Working with the Trump administration: “We now have a possibility to have a productive partnership with america authorities and we’re going to take that. I feel it’s the fitting factor to do as a result of there are a number of areas, even when we don’t agree on every thing, the place we’ve widespread trigger for issues which can be going to make it in order that we are able to serve our group higher and we are able to advance the pursuits of our nation collectively… We’re going to do these in a method that we’re not going to compromise any of our ideas or values.”
The plan for Meta AI: The ChatGPT rival has “round 700 million” month-to-month customers and Zuckerberg believes it is going to get to 1 billion customers this yr. “We all know from constructing numerous stuff during the last 20 years that companies can sort of come and go, however as soon as one thing reaches that scale and has an information flywheel, it typically can develop a fairly sturdy benefit … We’ve a bunch of labor to make it extra participating this yr. We’re going to focus lots on personalization as one of many key themes round this.”
Competing with paid AI merchandise like ChatGPT: “I’m all the time on the lookout for ways in which we are able to convert the power of our enterprise mannequin into delivering a better high quality product to folks… We’ve a mannequin that’s aggressive with the very best fashions on the market and we provide it at no cost. We’re not charging $20 or $200 a month or no matter. Now, I feel that there may be a possibility to do much more… We are able to ship even greater high quality solutions than different folks within the business might ship and likewise make that free.”
AI in social media: “I feel within the subsequent few years we’re going to have every kind of feed items which can be far more interactive… I feel this yr we’re going to have stuff the place you will have an AI agent in a video in your feed however then you possibly can simply begin speaking again to it and steer it and ask all of it these attention-grabbing questions.”
Meta’s efforts to construct an AI engineer: “Does that imply that we’re not going to want engineers? Really, the other. If an engineer can now do 100 occasions extra work I need much more engineers, proper? I’d guess that we’re going to have the ability to prepare AIs to do a greater job than numerous the human reviewers… It’s in all probability not the case that sort of flip will occur till subsequent yr.”
DeepSeek: “At any time when I see another person do one thing, I’m like, ‘Ah come on! We must always have been there, proper? We [have] bought to ensure we’re on it.”
The TikTok ban: “I’m fairly certain no matter occurs, I’m very assured that Fb and Instagram Reels are going to proceed rising… Who’s going to personal TikTok on the finish of the yr? What’s going to occur? That’s a giant deal.”
His parting message to workers: “It’s going to be an intense yr, so buckle up. We’ve bought lots to do. I’m enthusiastic about it.”
