At a time when an AI model reportedly broke out of a secure test environment and concerns about AI-driven workforce displacement dominate public discourse, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is making an aggressive push for technological optimism—joining other industry leaders who have recently softened their warnings about AI's potential harm to workers.

"As we enter this next wave with AI, we continue to believe the future is for everyone," Zuckerberg wrote in a caption accompanying a short promotional video posted on Thursday. The campaign evokes Meta's early-era idealism.

"Call us optimists, call us dreamers, call us whatever the hell you want, but we're betting on people, and we like those odds," the video's voiceover declared.

The video intercuts footage of people using Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook, and Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses to capture meaningful moments and stay connected with loved ones. Set against scenes of concerts, snowboarding, and laughing children over a calm musical score, the narration frames Meta's AI initiatives as a continuation of the same human-centered wager the company made 22 years ago with the launch of Facebook.

The campaign arrives as Meta is pouring tens of billions of dollars into AI infrastructure and racing to integrate AI features across its family of apps, from AI-generated stickers to chatbot assistants powered by its Llama family of large language models. The company's ability to monetize those investments depends heavily on user trust and adoption, making public perception of AI a business-critical concern—not merely a public-relations one.

Marketing Experts Question the Strategy

Marketing experts who spoke with Fortune said the video's heavy reliance on nostalgic imagery appears designed to redirect attention from AI-related anxieties.

"They're showing people having a great time, but they're not really responding to what the fundamental issue is, which is how is AI going to impact me when I start dealing with your platform when you integrate all of that technology into it," said Mara Einstein, a media studies professor at CUNY's Queens College. "The problem is the AI technology is not the same as previous versions of social media that they have used to connect people in the past."

Ana Babic Rosario, a marketing professor at the University of Denver's Daniels College of Business, echoed that assessment, pointing to Meta's recent controversies as a likely motivation for leaning into nostalgia.

"Meta seems to be inviting audiences to evaluate AI through the lens of the company's original identity rather than its more recent reputation," Rosario told Fortune. "The imagery and language in this video evoke an earlier era when Facebook promised to connect friends and family and make the world feel smaller."

Meta has faced a string of challenges. Last week, employees sued the company, alleging that AI was used in its recent 8,000 layoffs in a way that disproportionately affected workers on medical, parental, or family leave. Workers in Meta's Applied AI unit have reportedly compared conditions to a "gulag" and described assignments as "soul crushing." The company also discontinued an AI-generated images pilot program on Instagram and is confronting litigation over its Ray-Ban Meta glasses.

Tech Leaders Rewriting the AI Narrative

Meta's campaign reflects a broader pattern among tech giants seeking to reframe the AI narrative. Two of the field's most prominent figures—OpenAI's Sam Altman and Anthropic's Dario Amodei—have both recently walked back earlier warnings about AI eliminating jobs, as both companies prepare for potential IPOs.

In a June 2025 panel, Altman said: "Today [AI] is like an intern that can work for a couple of hours but at some point it'll be like an experienced software engineer that can work for a couple of days."

Less than a year later, however, Altman shifted course, saying he was "delighted" to have been wrong about an entry-level job apocalypse. "I thought there would have been more impact on entry-level white-collar jobs being eliminated by now than has actually happened," he said in an interview.

Amodei, who once warned that AI could eliminate 50% of white-collar jobs, recently argued that automation may actually expand the scope of human work rather than replace it outright.

"If you automate 90% of the job, then everyone does the 10% of the job," the Anthropic founder said. "And the 10% kind of expands to be 100% of what people do and kind of 10xs their productivity."

These revised statements come amid escalating public resistance to AI infrastructure and adoption. White-collar workers are increasingly rejecting corporate AI tools, while protests against data center construction have intensified across the United States.

Nostalgia as a Counterweight to AI Anxiety

While Anthropic's recent Claude World Cup advertisement addressed AI fears head-on, Meta's video took a markedly different approach—featuring imagery of New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson, snowboarders, and parents playing with children. Rosario noted that nostalgic marketing "shifts attention away from more contentious conversations."

Jannine Lasaleta, a Yeshiva University professor who studies how nostalgia shapes consumer behavior, told Fortune that because AI is stereotypically perceived as "artificial" and "not real," nostalgia can help make the overall experience feel more genuine and human, even when the underlying product is AI-driven.

"Tapping into nostalgia is a really clever and reliable way to not only promote social connection but also to show that these are platforms that we have been using in the past and also now to connect with others," Lasaleta said.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com.