The technology group, valued at about $US1.6 trillion, is currently reorienting its business around artificial intelligence after years of investment in social platforms, messaging and virtual reality. As part of that shift, the company is exploring ways to blend generative AI with its existing work on avatars and immersive environments, turning what began as consumer-facing experiments into tools that could be used inside the organisation.
People familiar with the project say Meta has been building highly realistic digital characters powered by AI that users can talk to as if they were real people, with responses generated on the fly. Within that broader effort, the company has started to prioritise an AI version of its chief executive, with the leader personally involved in training and testing the animated avatar so it can hold conversations with staff, offer feedback and simulate leadership interactions at scale.
The move looks like a test case for how large technology companies might use AI to replicate senior leaders’ presence, potentially making executives more accessible while also raising questions about authenticity, decision-making and how employees relate to a digital stand-in rather than a human boss.
