Meta Platforms Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg struck a new tone with investors Wednesday: The social media giant will be leaner, more efficient and more decisive, with a big assist from artificial intelligence.
The company’s shares gained more than 20% in late trading on fourth-quarter revenue that beat expectations. Zuckerberg, who has spent the past year promising a faraway future in a digital world called the metaverse, on Wednesday was more focused on immediate problems, such as sending users the most relevant videos at the right time, and finally making significant revenue from messaging products. He called 2023 the “Year of Efficiency.”
“We’re working on flattening our org structure and removing some layers of middle management to make decisions faster, as well as deploying AI tools to help our engineers be more productive,” Zuckerberg said on an earnings call with investors. “There’s going to be some more that we can do to improve our productivity, speed and cost structure.”
