An executive at Meta has instructed employees in the company's metaverse division to use artificial intelligence to increase their work speed by 500%. The directive, detailed in an internal message, aims to integrate AI into every workflow, affecting not just engineers but all roles within the team.
Key Takeaways
- Vishal Shah, Meta's VP of Metaverse, issued a directive for employees to become "5X faster" using AI tools.
- The company has set a target for 80% of metaverse employees to integrate AI into their daily work by the end of the year.
- The push for AI adoption extends beyond engineers to include project managers, designers, and other staff.
- This initiative comes as Meta's metaverse division continues to report significant financial losses, having spent tens of billions of dollars on the project.
A Push for Radical Efficiency
In an internal communication, Vishal Shah, Meta's Vice President of Metaverse, outlined an ambitious new goal for his division centered on artificial intelligence. The message, titled "Metaverse AI4P: Think 5X, not 5%," calls for a fivefold increase in productivity, a significant jump from minor efficiency gains.
Shah emphasized that the objective is to make AI a fundamental part of the work process. "Our goal is simple yet audacious: make Al a habit, not a novelty," the message stated. This involves embedding AI tools into every major codebase and daily workflow across the division.
The directive is part of a company-wide strategy. A Meta spokesperson confirmed the focus, stating, "It's well-known that this is a priority, and we're focused on using AI to help employees with their day-to-day work."
AI Integration Beyond Engineering
The mandate for increased AI use is not limited to software developers. Shah specified that all employees, regardless of their role, are expected to adopt these tools to accelerate their work.
"I want to see PMs, designers, and [cross functional] partners rolling up their sleeves and building prototypes, fixing bugs, and pushing the boundaries of what's possible," he wrote.
The ultimate goal is to drastically shorten development cycles. Shah described a future where creative and feedback processes are much faster. "Imagine a world where anyone can rapidly prototype an idea, and feedback loops are measured in hours—not weeks. That's the future we're building," he added.
Zuckerberg's Broader AI Vision
This internal push aligns with public statements from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. He has predicted that AI agents will be responsible for writing the majority of the company's code within the next 12 to 18 months. Meta has also started allowing job candidates to use AI during coding interviews, signaling a fundamental shift in how it evaluates technical skills.
Workforce Implications and Industry Trends
Meta's directive reflects a broader trend across the technology industry, where companies are pushing for massive productivity gains through AI. This has led to concerns among employees about job security and increased performance expectations.
The implicit message is that work performed without AI assistance may no longer meet company standards. This pressure is not unique to Meta. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has also communicated that he expects AI to transform the company's operations, which could lead to a reduction in the corporate workforce as efficiencies are realized.
The Metaverse Division's Financials
Meta's Reality Labs, the division responsible for its metaverse products, has been a significant financial investment for the company. It has accumulated losses of tens of billions of dollars over the past several years while struggling to achieve widespread user adoption for its virtual reality platforms.
Concerns Over AI-Generated Code
While executives champion AI for productivity, some experienced software engineers have raised concerns about the quality of code generated by AI tools. A growing number of developers argue that relying heavily on AI for coding can lead to what is sometimes called "vibe coding."
This practice involves generating code that appears to work but may contain hidden bugs or be difficult for human engineers to understand, maintain, or debug. This can create a new form of technical debt known as "comprehension debt," where developers spend more time fixing AI-generated mistakes than they would have spent writing the code themselves.
Recent blog posts from developers with titles like "Vibe coding is creating braindead coders" and "Comprehension Debt: The Ticking Time Bomb of LLM-Generated Code" have highlighted this growing unease within the engineering community.
Meta's Action Plan for AI Adoption
To achieve its aggressive goals, Meta's metaverse division has established a clear roadmap. Shah's message outlined a target for 80 percent of metaverse employees to have integrated AI into their daily work routines by the end of this year.
To facilitate this transition, the company is organizing specific training initiatives, including two "Metaverse day of AI learning" events. Employees are being urged to treat this training as a top priority.
"Dedicate the time. Take the training seriously. Share what you learn, and don’t be afraid to experiment," Shah urged. He concluded that a 500% productivity increase requires a complete reevaluation of how work is done, moving beyond small, incremental improvements to fundamentally change processes.