Imagine if your boss could be everywhere, anytime, all at once. This might soon be the reality for the thousands of employees working for Meta.
Mark Zuckerberg is reportedly creating an AI clone of himself, expected to be a “photorealistic” 3D copy of the billionaire tech mogul.
The vision for the chatbot is to help employees feel more connected to their founder. But netizens found it creepy to run “all decisions by robot Zuck.”
Highlights
- Mark Zuckerberg is reportedly creating an AI clone of himself, expected to be a “photorealistic” 3D copy of him.
- The AI-powered chatbot will be trained to recreate his mannerisms, tone and even voice to have real-time conversations with Meta’s employees.
- The successful completion of Meta’s ongoing AI projects would mean that users will, at some point, be able to create AI clones of themselves.
Mark Zuckerberg is reportedly creating an AI clone of himself
Image credits: Getty/Chris Unger
The chatbot will give employees a chance to engage with the virtual clone of one of the most powerful people in Silicon Valley.
Image credits: Unsplash (Not the actual photo)
The hope is that employees feel “more connected” to the Facebook co-creator by interacting with the chatbot and having real-time conversations, according to a Financial Times report citing people familiar with the project.
The AI-powered clone will be trained to recreate the billionaire’s mannerisms, tone and even voice, the report said.
Image credits: Facebook/Mark Zuckerberg
Zuckerberg’s pictures, voice recordings, publicly available statements and his latest thoughts on company strategies will also be fed into the system.
The clone is expected to be able to have conversations and give feedback to employees in real time.
The clone is expected to be a “photorealistic” 3D copy of the billionaire tech mogul
Image credits: Getty/David Ramos
Zuckerberg is personally involved in the process of training the chatbot and sits in on the technical reviews for Meta’s AI projects.
He also reportedly spends five to 10 hours a week working on the coding for different AI projects.
The company’s effort to make an AI-clone of Zuckerberg is different from their “CEO agent” project, a personalised AI system being developed to help Zuckerberg access internal company information faster.
Image credits: Getty/Drew Angerer
With a massive focus on AI projects, sources claimed the company is grappling with technical hurdles, such as the vast amount of computing power required.
Challenges include making the AI clones look as realistic as possible and reducing delays to mimic a human conversation.
The successful completion of the ongoing projects would mean that Meta users will, at some point, be able to create AI clones of themselves.
The tech visionary, who has admitted to being “the most awkward person” in the past, created an avatar version of himself inside the metaverse in 2022
Image credits: Facebook/Mark Zuckerberg
Zuckerberg had demonstrated what an AI clone might look like while showcasing an AI “video call” feature in 2024.
The 41-year-old was seen talking over the phone with an AI bot, but there were noticeable delays at the time.
The responses to the CEO’s questions were also not complex.
The tech visionary, who has admitted to being “the most awkward person” in the past, had created an avatar version of himself inside the metaverse in 2022.
Image credits: WesterosNewsOne
Metaverse is a broad idea for an immersive digital world where people can interact in real time using avatars.
It was once hyped as the next big leap in how we work, socialize, and exist online. But despite the buzz, it struggled to attract mainstream users and was largely found to be underwhelming.
Meta poured an $80 billion investment into building its dream project through its Reality Labs division, which develops the company’s VR and AR technologies.
Image credits: Facebook/Mark Zuckerberg
One of its key products was Horizon Worlds, a social VR platform where users could explore virtual spaces and interact as avatars.
Last month, Meta announced that it was shutting down the virtual reality social network, as the company has scaled down its metaverse vision and steered its focus on AI.
In 2023, Meta launched celebrity-based chatbots with the help of stars who had licensed their likeness to the company.
These included chatbot personas modelled on Snoop Dogg, Tom Brady, and Kendall Jenner. However, they failed to get enough attention and were discontinued in 2024.
Reports revealed that Meta now has plans of spending up to $135 billion this year alone as for the development of AI projects.
They are also looking to get a competitive edge over other tech giants, like Sundar Pichai’s Google, Sam Altman’s OpenAI, and Dario Amodei’s Anthropic.
“Who is going to be the real robot?” one sarcastically asked after the news of Zuckerberg’s AI clone
Image credits: Unsplash (Not the actual photo)
“No AI clone could be more creepy than the real Zuck,” one said.
Another wrote, “This sounds like a horror movie. You’re at work but now you have to run all decisions by robot Zuck.”
Image credits: Facebook/Mark Zuckerberg
“You mean more creepy than he already is?” another quipped.
It’s “probably less weird than engaging with the real version,” another wrote.
One said, “things that make you want to retreat to the woods and live like a hobbit.”
Netizens had strong reactions to the news of Zuckerberg’s AI clone being developed
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