Report: Mark Zuckerberg is building an AI clone to stand in for him at meetings

Meta is reportedly building an AI avatar that has learned Mark Zuckerberg's image, voice, tone of speech, gestures, and public remarks. This AI version is meant to interact with employees and give feedback, with a focus on strengthening their sense of connection with the founder.

The plan was revealed through a Financial Times report, and if Meta's experiment succeeds, it may also let other creators build their own AI avatars. Meta already unveiled a demo of AI personas for creators in 2024, and on Instagram it has offered a feature letting creators make an AI version of themselves to respond to comments.

At the same time, Meta has let users build their own custom AI chatbots, but earlier this year it blocked the feature for teenage users. Zuckerberg is said to be personally involved in training this avatar as well, and in other AI projects he reportedly spends about 5 to 10 hours a week on coding and technical review. Back in March, the Wall Street Journal also reported that Zuckerberg was building a separate AI agent to help with CEO duties, but that project is said to be distinct from this AI avatar work.