Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has laid out a bold vision for what he calls “personal superintelligence,” signaling a major leap forward in the company’s AI ambitions. In a memo shared ahead of Meta’s latest earnings call, Zuckerberg claimed that the company is beginning to see early signs of its AI systems improving autonomously—an advancement he says brings the concept of superintelligence into view.

“Over the last few months we have begun to see glimpses of our AI systems improving themselves,” Zuckerberg noted. “The improvement is slow for now, but undeniable. Developing superintelligence is now in sight.”

While he didn’t offer a strict definition or timeline for when superintelligence might arrive, Zuckerberg acknowledged the potential dangers involved, stating that this evolution would bring “novel safety concerns” that require careful handling. “We’ll need to be rigorous about mitigating these risks and careful about what we choose to open source,” he emphasized.

This vision of future AI deviates significantly from that of some competitors. Zuckerberg drew a clear distinction between Meta’s approach and what he described as a centralized model aimed at automating all valuable human work.

“This is distinct from others in the industry who believe superintelligence should be directed centrally towards automating all valuable work,” he said. “At Meta, we believe that people pursuing their individual aspirations is how we have always made progress expanding prosperity, science, health, and culture. This will be increasingly important in the future as well.”

Zuckerberg believes that AI should work in tandem with individuals, not replace them. He foresees Meta integrating AI deeply into consumer technology like augmented reality (AR) glasses and virtual reality (VR) headsets, turning these into devices that “understand our context because they can see what we see, hear what we hear, and interact with us throughout the day.”

He also stated, “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.”

Meta has already been making major investments in this space, acquiring AI startups, expanding data center infrastructure, and recruiting top AI talent. A key differentiator for Meta has been its commitment to open-source development—at least in part. The company’s Llama models have been released with considerable fanfare, despite some criticism that they aren’t fully open since Meta hasn’t shared training datasets.

Still, Zuckerberg has admitted that openness isn’t guaranteed forever. “If at some point however there’s some qualitative change in what the thing is capable of, and we feel like it’s not responsible to open source it, then we won’t.”

A Meta spokesperson reinforced this position, stating, “Our position on open source AI is unchanged. We plan to continue releasing leading open source models. We haven’t released everything we’ve developed historically and we expect to continue training a mix of open and closed models going forward.”

Ultimately, Meta’s strategy hinges on embedding superintelligence into personal devices rather than monetizing API access, aligning with its ad-driven business model. As Zuckerberg once remarked, “Releasing Llama doesn’t undercut our revenue, sustainability, or ability to invest in research like it does for closed providers.”