Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg believes billions of people will have personal AI agents within the next five years, capable of managing everything from finances and health to relationships and household tasks.

Speaking during Meta's latest earnings call, Zuckerberg described AI assistants as the next major computing platform, working continuously on behalf of users to help achieve their personal goals.

WhatsApp will play a central role

Zuckerberg said messaging platforms such as WhatsApp will become increasingly important as users interact with multiple AI agents throughout the day.

According to Meta, WhatsApp is already the company's largest platform for conversations with Meta AI, positioning it as a key gateway for future AI-powered services.

Meta is also expanding AI assistants across Facebook, Instagram and Messenger as competition with ChatGPT, Google Gemini and Anthropic intensifies.

AI ambitions come with rising costs

Meta's aggressive investment in AI is placing growing pressure on its finances.

The company reported that free cash flow fell by more than 90% year-on-year as billions of dollars continue flowing into AI infrastructure, including new data centres and specialised computing capacity.

Meta recently partnered with BlackRock to build a $14 billion AI data centre in Texas as it races to expand computing resources.

Meta sees AI as its next major business

Beyond consumer assistants, Meta says more than one million businesses are already using its AI-powered business agents across WhatsApp and Messenger.

Zuckerberg believes personal AI agents will become the foundation for Meta's next generation of products and revenue, signalling that AI will remain at the centre of the company's long-term strategy.