In recent months, Meta, under the leadership of Mark Zuckerberg, has faced a barrage of negative press. Many are questioning the company’s long-term viability, citing significant financial missteps, a faltering engineering culture, and a lack of direction in the AI race. As Meta navigates these turbulent waters, its core products may be at risk of obsolescence.
Meta’s Troubling Headlines
The media attention surrounding Zuckerberg and Meta has taken a notably critical turn.
For instance, a recent article by Julia Angwin in the New York Times paints a bleak picture of the company’s future:
There comes a time when internet companies start to exhibit signs of decline. For AOL, that moment was in 2003, as users transitioned to faster broadband services. For Yahoo, it was in 2015 when its acquisition efforts failed, culminating in its sale to Verizon. For Meta, that moment appears to be now. It feels as though the company—once a titan in the media landscape and a cornerstone of the S&P 500—is entering a gradual decline, with societal and economic repercussions looming.
… Meta’s earnings are reflecting a struggle fueled by growing consumer dissatisfaction and extravagant spending. The latest financial reports reveal an unprecedented decline in user numbers. Coupled with a plummeting stock price, it’s clear that the company is staring down a ‘zombie’ era.In the digital realm, death takes on a different meaning. Companies like AOL and Yahoo still maintain a presence online and can even generate income, but their relevance has waned significantly. Today’s youth would hesitate to associate with tools like AOL accounts, Yahoo emails, or even Facebook profiles.
Additionally, a striking article from Wired highlights the discontent among Meta’s workforce:
— Nat Wilson Turner (@natwilsonturner) June 17, 2026
This scenario illustrates that negative exposure can have tangible consequences.
The Decline of Engineering Culture
The Wired article sheds light on the fallout from Zuckerberg’s recent AI initiatives and widespread layoffs:
Frustration is mounting among members of Meta’s Applied AI team, established in March to bolster AI research at Meta Superintelligence Labs. Three employees share that many in the organization are dissatisfied with how the 6,500-strong team was formed and the tasks assigned to them. One employee lamented, “It feels like a prison—there’s no sense of purpose, limited interaction, and repetitive tasks.”
Another described generating puzzles for AI testing as a stark contrast to their previous, more engaging work, leaving most employees feeling dispirited. “The majority find the assignments demoralizing,” said a third.
Gergely Orosz from The Pragmatic Engineer poses a critical question: “Why is Meta undermining its engineering organization?”
For two decades, Meta boasted a vibrant, high-performance engineering culture, thriving until recently. Initially, it embraced a “move-fast-and-break-things” ethos, transitioning to “move-fast-with-stable-infra” in early 2020s. However, recent shifts appear aimed at dismantling this once-successful culture methodically.
… Leadership seems to be retreating from the engineering excellence that was characteristic of Meta since its inception in 2004, devolving it into a mere cost center.
Orosz’s insights are particularly valuable given his extensive analysis of Facebook’s engineering culture at its pinnacle in 2022. He speculates that Zuckerberg’s actions may stem from a desire not to repeat his previous failures in creating a mobile operating system, which left him without a proprietary platform.
In 2022, Zuckerberg invested an astonishing $83.6 billion into the Metaverse—a concept that many view as far-fetched. Determined not to fall behind in the AI domain, he organized an internal FAIR team as well as a Generative AI product group after recognizing AI’s potential in 2022:
- Llama 1 debuted in February 2023, just months after ChatGPT, created by FAIR
- Llama 2 launched in June 2023, from the Generative AI product group
- Llama 3 released in April 2024, garnering industry traction
- Llama 4, introduced in April 2025, yielding disappointing results
This year, Meta made headlines again when it acquired a 49% stake in Scale AI for an enormous $14.8 billion, enlisting Scale AI’s CEO, Alexandr Wang, to spearhead Meta’s AI endeavors. However, the acquisition of the Chinese startup Manus AI for $2 billion faces complications due to Beijing’s intervention.
It is evident that Meta—under Zuckerberg’s direction—is committed to developing competitive language models. However, starting from scratch poses significant challenges, now resting on Wang’s shoulders.
Zuckerberg’s latest decision may prove detrimental, as he coupled significant layoffs with mandatory assignments requiring top engineers to perform mundane tasks aimed at training AI—tasks that could ultimately replace them.
Meta’s layoffs in May, reported by NDTV, included around 8,000 employees—approximately 10% of the workforce—reflecting Zuckerberg’s push toward an aggressive AI strategy:
Notifications went out early Wednesday, impacting global employees, starting with those based in Singapore. Alongside the layoffs, Meta announced plans to forgo hiring 6,000 personnel while reallocating 7,000 employees to roles focused on AI workflows. In a memo, Zuckerberg expressed gratitude to those departing, reassuring the remaining staff: “It’s never easy to bid farewell to those who have contributed to our mission. I feel the weight of this.”
Concerns regarding the nature of the new roles are widespread. Reuters reported that:
Meta is implementing new tracking software on U.S.-based employees’ devices to monitor mouse movements, clicks, and keystrokes as part of efforts to improve its AI models. This initiative, termed the Model Capability Initiative (MCI), will monitor work-related applications and may take periodic screenshots. The objective is to enhance AI performance in mimicking human-computer interactions, especially in scenarios involving dropdown menus and keyboard shortcuts.
Zuckerberg’s push for automation may appear savvy from a C-suite perspective, but the ramifications have not materialized as intended.
The sensitivity surrounding these new assignments has been pronounced, as reported by Business Insider:
As 8,000 employees received layoff notifications, 7,000 others found themselves swept into a new AI initiative crafted by Zuckerberg to propel Meta’s role in the AI landscape—a move many employees received with mixed emotions. Various participants described being “drafted” into this new program, which has left them feeling uncertain about their future role.
This situation is particularly irksome, given that many engineers have been forcibly reassigned to grunt work related to AI training, creating resentment. Orosz highlights that the traditional culture at Meta emphasized autonomy in work assignments, which has now been upended:
Up to 50% of engineers in core teams have found themselves redirected towards data labeling tasks that many consider beneath their skills. Historically, Meta empowered its engineers to determine their projects, a privilege that has now been stripped away.
But Zuckerberg’s ambitions don’t stop at AI alone; he still pursues older projects like augmented reality glasses:
The Ethical Quandary of Meta’s AR Glasses
Despite compromising employee morale for an AI-driven vision, Zuckerberg remains committed to other controversial products like augmented reality glasses. Wired has revealed that:
Under-the-radar updates to Meta’s AI app have integrated a feature called “NameTag,” which recognizes people captured by the glasses’ camera, alerting the wearer when someone is identified. Despite public assurances that face recognition technologies were still under evaluation, critical code had already been made accessible to users early this year.
Internal objections from Meta executives regarding Wired’s findings have surfaced, yet the anticipated backlash is evident. A prior New York Times report discussed internal discussions around the risks involved, revealing:
Meta contemplated releasing the face recognition feature at a conference targeting the visually impaired, leveraging a politically charged climate to sidestep scrutiny.
Such actions have only heightened public scrutiny, prompting even Zuckerberg to recognize the growing backlash.
Addressing Oversights and Challenges
In a recent memo, Zuckerberg acknowledged that the pace of changes has led to mistakes:
“We’ve made errors, and we will likely face more challenges ahead. My aim is to provide greater stability amidst ongoing organizational changes,” he remarked, indicating that Meta does not anticipate further job cuts this year.
However, skepticism persists regarding the extent of Zuckerberg’s lessons learned.
Continuing Financial Struggles
For Meta investors, there is troubling news. Per TechCrunch, the company’s virtual reality ventures accumulated losses of approximately $19.1 billion in 2025, slightly above the previous year’s figures:
“While we plan to refocus investments on glasses and wearables, the expectation is that losses will persist into this year,” Zuckerberg noted, implying that 2026 may see peak losses before improvements.
Since Meta’s pivot towards the “metaverse” in 2021, skepticism has remained prevalent. As the business struggles financially, it remains unclear how the company will recover.
Additionally, CNBC highlights that Zuckerberg’s legacy is entwined with the advertising market:
For nearly two decades, ads have been the backbone of Zuckerberg’s enterprises, contributing a staggering 98% of Meta’s revenue. While the online advertising market remains strong, questions arise regarding the company’s future viability as user behaviors shift.
Ultimately, the fate of Zuckerberg’s empire hangs in the balance. Only time will reveal whether he will navigate these challenges or see his reign come to an end. Stay tuned.
Related Posts:
