CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who currently has a net worth of $231 billion, admitted that the company’s AI bets “haven’t come to fruition yet.” He said that during an internal town hall on July 2, Reuters reported. <\/p>\n
The social media stock<\/a> dipped 5% that day, although it’s up 19% in the month of July (as of July 10). <\/p>\n Meta has been one of the fastest companies to commit fully to AI. Earlier this year, the business laid off 8,000 employees, translating to 10% of its workforce. It also moved 7,000 people into different AI roles. One of the goals was to develop and implement AI agents throughout the organization, an objective that so far has failed to live up to expectations. <\/p>\n Zuckerberg said notable progress should be made in the coming months. But based on the immediate negative share-price reaction, investors were less enthusiastic. <\/p>\n The slow AI headway is giving shareholders flashbacks to late 2021, when the business changed its name from Facebook to Meta Platforms. The company believed that the metaverse would replace mobile internet as the next major computing platform, a strategic pivot that Meta has since scaled back. <\/p>\n Investors haven’t been pleased with Reality Labs’ financial performance. This segment of Meta posted a cumulative operating loss of $77 billion during the five-year period from the start of 2021 through 2025. But this dollar figure is peanuts compared to the money being allocated to AI. <\/p>\n Zuck’s gamble makes sense <\/p>\n With a world-class advertising platform and 3.56 billion daily active users across its family of apps, Meta aims to leverage AI not only to boost engagement and drive higher ad revenue, but to also bring personal superintelligence to everyone around the world. This gives the business a different position than its hyperscaler peers<\/a>, which largely sell AI and other computing capabilities to enterprise clients. <\/p>\n Meta’s huge AI spending makes sense, since the company wants to lead the AI revolution from an individual’s perspective. However, Zuckerberg’s comments about AI progress being slow have three implications for the broader AI secular trend. <\/p>\n It’s almost impossible to precisely measure early results from AI implementation, even for a dominant technology business. Worries about AI agents replacing jobs appear to be overblown right now. And no one has any idea what the ultimate payoff will be from the unprecedented AI spending taking place. <\/p>\n Should you buy stock in Meta Platforms right now? <\/p>\n Before you buy stock in\u00a0Meta Platforms, consider this: <\/p>\n The Motley Fool\u00a0Stock Advisor\u00a0analyst team just identified what they believe are the\u00a010 best stocks<\/a>\u00a0for investors to buy now\u2026 and\u00a0Meta Platforms\u00a0wasn’t one of them.\u00a0The 10 stocks that made the cut are built for long-term growth and could produce monster returns in the coming years. <\/p>\n Consider when\u00a0Netflix\u00a0made this list on December 17, 2004… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation,\u00a0you’d have $395,679!*\u00a0Or\u00a0when\u00a0Nvidia\u00a0made this list on April 15, 2005… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation,\u00a0you’d have $1,294,805!* <\/p>\n That performance is why people listen. With a track record of\u00a0beating the S&P 500 by 4x,\u00a0Stock Advisor\u00a0offers a distinct advantage. Don’t miss the latest top 10 list, available with\u00a0Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built for the long haul. <\/p>\n See the 10 stocks \u00bb<\/a> <\/p>\n *Stock Advisor returns as of July 12, 2026. <\/p>\n Neil Patel<\/a> has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Meta Platforms. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy<\/a>. <\/p>\n<\/a> Image source: The Motley Fool. Not living up to the hype <\/p>\n