Zuckerberg admits uncertainty about Meta’s massive AI gamble; before pouring in hundreds of billions, he asked Frank Wang: “Are you sure it will succeed?”

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted that when he pledged to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in AI infrastructure last year, he had no idea whether the products would actually succeed.

According to a Bloomberg report, Zuckerberg recalled on the Cheeky Pint podcast—which aired on Monday—asking Meta’s Chief AI Scientist, Yann LeCun: “We’re about to write a check for $100 billion or $200 billion. Are you sure this will work?” LeCun frankly acknowledged that even with such massive investment, success could not be guaranteed.

Zuckerberg also revealed that CFO Susan Li had repeatedly warned him that the cost of failure would be enormous.

Meta has struggled to convince investors to accept its ballooning AI expenditures. While Zuckerberg has consistently emphasized that the investment will yield returns, shareholders are increasingly concerned that revenue and profit growth are not keeping pace.

On Monday, Meta launched a new AI model, claiming it rivals ChatGPT and Claude in capabilities such as coding and handling financial and legal tasks. The company also recently introduced “Muse,” a personalized AI assistant capable of helping users shop, buy movie tickets, and schedule appointments—though Zuckerberg admitted he was uncertain at the time how consumers would react to it.