What Zuckerberg's 'personal superintelligence' sales pitch leaves out

ZDNET’s key takeaways

• Zuckerberg unveils his vision for personal superintelligence.
• But his unclear definition leaves product and impact ambiguous.
• Superintelligence may disrupt jobs despite efficiency promises.

Another day, another vague reference to the promise of superintelligence. On Wednesday, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg shared a video address and accompanying letter on X stating his company’s “vision for the future of personal superintelligence for everyone.”

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Zuckerberg coined that term — without actually defining it — earlier this month, when Meta announced its new Superintelligence Labs, a division within the company dedicated to building a computer system that significantly surpasses human capability.

Defining personal superintelligence

Superintelligence would leapfrog artificial general intelligence (AGI), which would be theoretically comparable to the human brain. Both remain deeply hypothetical.

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In the letter, Zuckerberg references recent advancements in agentic AI, noting that systems are slowly but surely “improving themselves,” and claims that superintelligence is more possible than ever — something we’ve heard before. 

Still, for every advancement, there is usually a limitation.

“As profound as the abundance produced by AI may one day be, an even more meaningful impact on our lives will likely come from everyone having a personal superintelligence that helps you achieve your goals, create what you want to see in the world, experience any adventure, be a better friend to those you care about, and grow to become the person you aspire to be,” writes Zuckerberg.

Glasses as a personal AI vehicle

Zuckerberg’s message refrains from clarifying what a personal AI product or service could be. Regardless, he is optimistic it will free the industry from the automation trap. “If trends continue, then you’d expect people to spend less time in productivity software, and more time creating and connecting,” he says. It’s unclear whether that trend has actually begun, though, considering how Jevon’s Paradox — the theory that efficiency only begets more consumption, not freedom — appears to be playing out.

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“Personal superintelligence that knows us deeply, understands our goals, and can help us achieve them will be by far the most useful,” his letter continues. “Personal devices like glasses that understand our context because they can see what we see, hear what we hear, and interact with us throughout the day will become our primary computing devices.”

The Information reported on Monday that Meta’s smart glasses sales have more than tripled in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024. Perhaps for good reason; ZDNET senior AI editor Sabrina Ortiz recently noted in our AI newsletter that smart glasses are, in her opinion, the most successful vehicle for effective personal AI.

Superintelligence could disrupt society – including jobs

Amidst the optimism, Zuckerberg noted the already-present reality that AI will disrupt many parts of society, including the job market — and that how we’ll apply superintelligence remains to be seen (if or when it is realized). 

“The rest of this decade seems likely to be the decisive period for determining the path this technology will take, and whether superintelligence will be a tool for personal empowerment or a force focused on replacing large swaths of society,” he writes.

Also: Open-source skills can save your career when AI comes knocking

Zuckerberg’s vision expands on the current argument for why AI agents are useful. At their most efficient, agents take up the busywork that can claim much of a human worker’s day, automating the mundane so employees can focus on higher-level, more singular contributions. That’s precisely because agents are broadly less capable than humans, especially when it comes to tasks like original creative work, relationship management, negotiation, and understanding certain contexts.

But the whole premise of superintelligence is that it would far exceed what the human brain can do. How Zuckerberg maintains this is possible while also assuring it would not displace people themselves will remain logically opaque until we have concrete examples.

Also: 5 entry-level tech jobs AI is already augmenting, according to Amazon

This feels especially relevant in the context of work, where AI’s agentic impact is unsettling job security. Microsoft just completed a third round of layoffs this year, ostensibly thanks to AI, and policy has yet to specify worker protections for those at risk of being replaced by the technology, instead favoring tax breaks for upskilling initiatives.

Meta itself is in the process of laying off 5% of its workforce this year, following 21,000 total layoffs since 2022, according to Business Insider. As is the case at other companies, the layoffs are at least partially due to redirecting funds into AI development. It’s unclear whether these roles at Meta will eventually also be replaced by AI.

A strategic investment plea

In what could be seen as a strategic investment plea, Zuckerberg assured the public that, despite offering no specifics, Meta can be trusted with the huge responsibility of shepherding whatever “personal superintelligence” is toward humanity’s best interests — unlike other AI companies.

“We believe in putting this power in people’s hands to direct it towards what they value in their own lives,” his letter says, noting that Meta is “distinct from others in the industry who believe superintelligence should be directed centrally towards automating all valuable work, and then humanity will live on a dole of its output.”

“At Meta, we believe that people pursuing their individual aspirations is how we have always made progress expanding prosperity, science, health, and culture,” he says.

Also: Control your computer with your mind? Meta’s working on that

It’s unclear how this approach to a still-unrealized power will fit with the company’s past business decisions. In April, for example, Meta whistleblower Sarah Wynn-Williams, formerly the company’s director of global policy, testified that Meta shared data with advertisers about when users, including teens, felt most “worthless or helpless.”

While double-speak isn’t surprising coming from the world’s most powerful CEOs, Zuckerberg’s message is a worthwhile reminder that, in their relatively brief history, tech companies have yet to commit their technology to the betterment of the human condition over profits. In carefully promising nothing but asking for the public’s trust, the message leaves uncertain who Zuckerberg’s idealized future is particularly for — especially in an increasingly deregulated policy environment.

Also: Trump’s AI plan pushes AI upskilling instead of worker protections – and 4 other key takeaways

In the meantime, the AI agents we have today support tasks like studying and exam prep, coding, turning notes into video, perfecting images, and more.

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