Meta Urges Metaverse Teams to Use AI for 5X Speed Boost
▼ Summary
– Meta executives are pushing employees to use AI to work “5X faster” rather than just 5% more efficiently, according to an internal message from VP Vishal Shah.
– The company aims to make AI a habitual tool integrated into all major workflows and codebases, not just for engineers but also for PMs, designers, and cross-functional partners.
– Meta’s metaverse products have consumed tens of billions of dollars in development but remain underused, highlighting the pressure for rapid innovation.
– CEO Mark Zuckerberg expects AI agents to write most of Meta’s code within 12-18 months and allows job candidates to use AI in coding tests during interviews.
– This reflects a broader industry trend where tech giants like Amazon anticipate AI-driven efficiency gains leading to workforce reductions, emphasizing that remaining employees must adapt to AI-enhanced productivity.
Meta is pushing its teams to dramatically accelerate development within the metaverse by integrating artificial intelligence into their daily workflows. According to an internal communication from Vishal Shah, Meta’s Vice President of Metaverse, the directive is for employees to aim for a fivefold increase in productivity rather than settling for minor improvements. Shah emphasized that AI should become a habitual tool, deeply embedded across all roles and processes to eliminate friction and speed up innovation.
The message, shared with metaverse product teams, outlined a vision where AI assists not only engineers but also project managers, designers, and cross-functional partners in building prototypes, resolving bugs, and exploring new possibilities. Shah described an ambitious future where feedback cycles shrink from weeks to just hours, enabling rapid iteration and refinement of metaverse experiences. This initiative, referred to internally as AI for Productivity (AI4P), signals a strategic shift toward leveraging AI to achieve significant leaps in output and creativity.
Meta’s substantial investment in the metaverse has so far yielded limited public adoption, despite the company rebranding and allocating tens of billions of dollars to its development. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has previously indicated that AI will play a central role in Meta’s operations, predicting that AI agents could handle the majority of the company’s coding within the coming year to year and a half. In a related move, Meta now permits job applicants to utilize AI during coding assessments, further integrating the technology into its talent evaluation and development practices.
However, this aggressive push also underscores a broader concern among employees: that leadership expects not only to automate certain tasks but also to compel remaining staff to achieve vastly higher efficiency through AI tools. There is an underlying implication that human performance alone may no longer meet corporate expectations, reflecting a trend where tech giants are increasingly relying on AI to streamline operations and reduce labor costs.
Other major players in the technology sector are adopting similar strategies. Amazon’s CEO Andy Jassy, for example, informed staff that AI will fundamentally reshape the company’s operations and likely lead to workforce reductions as efficiency gains take effect. This industry-wide pivot highlights how artificial intelligence is becoming a cornerstone of corporate strategy, reshaping not only product development but also the very nature of tech employment.
(Source: Wired)
