Meta Abandons Google Chat for Slack Amid AI Agent Focus

Meta is switching its internal communication platform from Google Chat to Slack, citing AI agents as the reason. According to a memo from AI chief Alexandr Wang, Slack is the strongest platform available today for agents due to its conversational interface, developer tooling, and third-party integrations.

The move is a significant win for Salesforce, which acquired Slack for $27.7 billion in 2021. However, this decision contrasts with European governments' efforts to adopt sovereign communication suites chosen for control rather than integrations.

France has ordered its ministries off Windows and set a 2027 deadline to replace Teams and Zoom for 2.5 million civil servants. The replacement is not an ecosystem play, but rather a move towards certified sovereign infrastructure. Tchap, the French state's Matrix-based messenger, has more than 600,000 users and runs on this stack.

Germany has also moved away from proprietary software, with Schleswig-Holstein saving €15 million in licenses by switching to an open-source solution.