Meta Platforms has launched a sweeping initiative that will directly affect the daily work of the majority of its metaverse division. The company now requires 80 percent of Reality Labs employees to integrate artificial intelligence into their roles by the end of the year.
The company-wide program aims not just for improvement but for a fivefold leap in productivity. The new directive comes as Meta faces pressure to justify the tens of billions of dollars invested in metaverse research and development.
The leadership is betting that advanced AI tools can transform the division’s engineering, design, and cross-functional output while accelerating the pace of VR and AR projects.
What is Meta’s AI4P program aiming to achieve?
The AI4P (AI for Productivity) program, led by metaverse VP Vishal Shah, sets an ambitious target for the Reality Labs group. Employees are expected to adopt an ‘AI-first’ mindset, seeking solutions and building prototypes with artificial intelligence as a core component.
The message is clear: Meta wants employees to “think 5X, not 5 percent.” This marks a significant philosophical and operational shift for the team, moving away from incremental upgrades and toward radical, step-change improvements in productivity.
Dashboards, usage tracking, and gamified incentives like the 'Level Up' program have been introduced to measure progress and encourage broad compliance.
Did you know?
Meta Platforms operates over 1.3 million GPUs for AI projects as of 2025.
How will the mandate impact employee roles?
Engineers are not the only ones affected by the new policy. The AI mandate extends to product managers, user experience designers, and support staff; everyone is expected to build, test, and improve AI-integrated features.
Meta is creating dedicated AI training programs and “AI learning days” to prepare the workforce.
Management aims to increase the reality labs AI-usage rate above 80 percent by the end of the year.
Job candidates can use AI during coding interviews, further pushing the cultural and technical boundaries of Meta’s hiring and onboarding practices.
What is the company’s broader strategy for AI?
This push mirrors CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s vision, publicly predicting that within 12 to 18 months, most company code will be AI-generated.
Meta is backing this shift with $60-65 billion in AI infrastructure investment this year, focused on new data centers and over a million GPUs.
The coordinated strategy aims to embed AI across both Meta's consumer and corporate arms.
By creating a robust, AI-powered workplace, the firm aims to establish a global standard for digital transformation and the development of the virtual world.
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What concerns do workers and engineers have?
The sudden drive for massive productivity gains has raised unease among technical staff. Some engineers are concerned that AI-generated code could lead to technical debt, debugging challenges, or lower software quality.
They acknowledge increased speed but worry about the maintainability and transparency of AI-driven systems.
External observers have noted similar tensions in the broader tech world, where AI adoption can lead to increased efficiency but may also challenge established development and review cycles.
Balancing innovation with reliability remains a vital concern for companies in the fast-paced metaverse space.
How can this reshape the future of virtual reality?
If successful, Meta’s AI core adoption could accelerate the release of new metaverse features and reduce development costs.
The company could attract more users, making virtual and augmented reality products more mainstream and appealing to both consumers and business partners.
Ultimately, Meta’s bold experiment stands to influence how the world views the productive potential of AI in the workplace.
Other tech giants are watching closely, and Meta’s next steps will likely shape the direction of metaverse and artificial intelligence development across the industry.
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