Viral audio clip claims Zuckerberg tracked employees to replace them with AI at Meta

A leaked audio allegedly featuring Mark Zuckerberg discussing employee tracking for AI training has surfaced as Meta begins laying off nearly 8,000 employees worldwide.

In Short

• Meta begins layoffs affecting nearly 8,000 employees across global offices
• Mark Zuckerberg can be heard discussing employee tracking in leaked audio
• The leaked comments are surfacing at a particularly sensitive moment for Meta

As thousands of employees across the world woke up to layoff emails from Meta on Wednesday, a leaked internal audio recording added a dramatic new twist to the company’s aggressive AI push. In the audio, allegedly from an all-hands meeting held on April 30, Mark Zuckerberg can be heard explaining why Meta has started tracking employee computer activity — saying the company wants its AI systems to learn directly from its employees.

Employee tracking questions emerge during all-hands meeting

Amid the tense atmosphere due to layoffs, the leaked audio has drawn attention because it appears to show Zuckerberg openly discussing how employee behaviour can be used to train AI models. The comments reportedly came after an employee questioned Meta’s decision to install tracking software on company computers in the US. The software was allegedly designed to capture mouse movements, clicks and keystrokes, raising concerns among employees already anxious about layoffs.

“So in other news, I know layoffs are top of mind, but there were also some updates this week around, and a question around employee device tracking,” the employee said during the meeting, before asking Zuckerberg to explain why the company was monitoring workers’ computers.

In response, Zuckerberg allegedly defended the practice by arguing that modern AI systems improve by observing highly skilled people performing real-world tasks.

“So we're in a phase where basically the AI models learn from watching really smart people do things,” he said in the leaked recording.

India Today Tech could not independently verify the authenticity of the leaked audio.

Zuckerberg says Meta employees can help improve AI models

According to Zuckerberg, Meta believes its own employees are more capable than the outside contractors many AI companies rely on for training data. He suggested that by studying how Meta engineers code, solve problems and use computers, the company’s AI systems could become dramatically more capable.

“The average intelligence of the people who are at this company is significantly higher than the average set of people that you can get to do tasks,” Zuckerberg allegedly said.

“So if we're trying to teach the models coding, for example, then having people internally build tools or solve tasks that help teach the model how to code, we think is going to dramatically increase our model's coding ability faster than what others in the industry have the capability to do.”

Audio leak sparks debate during Meta’s AI expansion

The leaked comments are surfacing at a particularly sensitive moment for Meta, as the company races to compete with rivals in the global AI battle while simultaneously reducing headcount.

The layoffs are part of Meta’s recently announced restructuring effort aimed at cutting costs and improving efficiency, while simultaneously pouring billions of dollars into artificial intelligence. Reports suggest the latest job cuts could affect nearly 10 per cent of Meta’s global workforce, or around 8,000 employees. According to a Bloomberg report, the company reportedly began notifying affected workers early Wednesday morning, with employees at its Singapore hub among the first to receive emails at around 4 a.m. local time. Teams in Europe and the United States were also expected to receive notifications in their respective time zones.

- Ends