Mark Zuckerberg Forms Advisory Council to Inform Meta AI Efforts

MetaCEOMark Zuckerberg has created a product advisory council to provide guidance on the company’s artificial intelligence (AI) and technology efforts.

The new Meta Advisory Group will meet periodically with Meta’s leadership team, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday (May 22).

The group will consist of four executives: Patrick Collison, CEO and co-founder of Stripe; Nat Friedman, former CEO of GitHub; Tobi Ltke, CEO of iShopify; and Charlie Songhurst, an investor and former Microsoft executive, according to the report.

Members of the Meta Advisory Group will not be paid and will provide their insights and recommendations on technological advances, innovation and strategic growth opportunities, the report said.

Unlike Meta’s board of directors, members of the advisory group are not elected by shareholders and have no fiduciary duty to the company, according to the report.

The creation of the Meta Advisory Group comes as Meta aims to strengthen its focus on AI-focused products, according to the report. This includes hardware devices such as virtual reality headsets and smart glasses, as well as software products such as the Metas AI Assistant, which is available to consumers through various apps.

During Meta’s recent earnings call, Zuckerberg expressed optimism and ambition in the field of AI, stating that the company has the potential to become the leading AI company in the world, according to the report.

Zuckerberg also stressed the need for patience, as many of Meta’s AI efforts may not yield immediate financial returns, the report said. The company faces competition from rivals such as Google, Microsoft and startup Anthropic in the race to develop AI models that could power the next generation of tech products.

While it’s unclear how often the Meta Advisory Group will meet, Zuckerberg mentioned that the group will advise Meta’s management team periodically moving forward, according to the report.

During Meta’s earnings call held on April 24, Zuckerberg mentioned AI and the metaverse in the first minute of the call.

The company’s earnings release that day showed that Meta plans to spend $5 billion more than it originally predicted on developing new AI products for consumers, developers, businesses and device manufacturers.

Meta’s announcement of its $35 billion investment in AI signaled an aggressive push into the escalating tech arms race, setting new precedents for how tech giants capitalize on advances in this technology.