PALO ALTO, July 12 — On the ground in Silicon Valley, the man who built Facebook has a new obsession, and it is not social networking. Mark Zuckerberg, the co-founder and CEO of Meta Platforms, is now betting the company’s future on artificial intelligence. The scene inside Meta’s headquarters these days is one of relentless engineering push.
By nightfall, the parking lots remain full. Residents describe a campus that hums with a different energy than the early days of the social media boom.
Zuckerberg founded Facebook on February 4, 2004, while he was still a student at Harvard University. Born May 14, 1984, in White Plains, New York, he has since transformed that dorm-room project into one of the most powerful companies on the planet. As of March 2025, he owns approximately 13% of Meta’s outstanding shares.
Through a dual-class stock structure, he controls about 58% of the voting power, giving him an iron grip on the company’s strategic direction. That direction is now firmly set on artificial general intelligence — AGI.
In January 2025, Zuckerberg announced that achieving AGI is Meta’s long-term goal. It is a bold, almost science-fiction ambition for a company best known for connecting people through screens. The shift is not just rhetorical.
Meta has released its Llama models publicly, championing an open-source approach to AI that stands in contrast to the more guarded strategies of some competitors.
The Man and the Money
Zuckerberg’s net worth is estimated at $185 billion by Forbes, making him the third-wealthiest person globally. His annual base salary is $1. His real compensation comes from stock awards.
That wealth has been channeled into the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the philanthropic organization he founded with his wife, Priscilla Chan, whom he married in 2012. The initiative has committed over $5 billion to scientific research and education.
But the road has not been smooth. On January 31, 2024, Zuckerberg testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee regarding child safety on social media platforms. The hearing was a stark reminder that the company’s past — its handling of data, misinformation, and now the safety of its youngest users — remains a live issue.
Lawmakers pressed him hard. Zuckerberg, in a dark suit and tie, offered apologies to families in the audience.
What Comes Next
Today, the focus is back on the technology itself. The push for AGI represents a bet that Meta can redefine itself not as a social media company, but as an AI leader. The open-source release of the Llama models is a key part of that strategy, inviting developers worldwide to build on Meta’s work.
The question now is whether Zuckerberg can pull it off. He has the voting control to make any decision stick.
He has the capital to fund the research. And he has publicly staked his legacy on the outcome. On the ground here, the mood is one of anticipation.
By nightfall, the engineers keep coding.
Sources
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