- Zuckerberg reaffirms commitment to the metaverse amidst AI pivot.
- Meta’s AI work is driving good results across its apps and business.
- Generative AI is foundational to the metaverse, according to Zuckerberg.
As most major companies are riding the AI wave, Meta Platforms, Inc., formerly known as Facebook, is not an exception. Due to the company’s significant investment in AI, questions arose about whether the company is focusing away from the metaverse. However, CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently reaffirmed the company’s commitment to both.
Zuckerberg Pivots to AI but Remains Committed to the Metaverse
During Meta’s earnings call for the second quarter of 2023 on Wednesday, July 26, CEO Mark Zuckerberg affirmed his commitment to both AI and the metaverse.
“Moving onto our product roadmap, I've said on a number of these calls that the two technological waves that we're riding are AI in the near term and the metaverse over the longer term,” Zuckerberg explained.
This move comes amidst concerns that the company might be pivoting away from its vision of creating the metaverse. However, Zuckerberg has argued that AI is foundational to the metaverse and will be a critical tool to create more dynamic and accessible virtual reality-powered experiences.
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“As our investments in AI continue, we remain fully committed to the metaverse vision as well. We’ve been working on both of these two major priorities for many years in parallel now, and in many ways, the two areas are overlapping and complementary,” he claims.
He also revealed that both AI and metaverse will be driving Meta’s expenditures in the foreseeable future.
“We expect a few factors to be drivers of total expense growth in 2024 as we continue to invest in our most compelling opportunities, including artificial intelligence (AI) and the metaverse,” Zuckerberg stated.
The commitment comes after Meta receives massive criticism over its $24 billion investment into the metaverse. Some have dubbed Meta’s metaverse initiative a “flop,” pointing to the company’s substantial losses and questioning the feasibility of the metaverse.
On the Flipside
- While Meta’s dual commitment to AI and the metaverse is ambitious, it also raises questions about its ability to balance these two significant initiatives. In particular, these commitments come after massive layoffs earlier this year.
- Some employees and investors have expressed confusion and dissatisfaction about the company’s core focus.
Why This Matters
The success or failure of Meta’s metaverse initiative has significant implications for the broader tech and crypto industries. If successful, the metaverse could usher in a new era of virtual reality, potentially revolutionizing how we interact with digital spaces.
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Read more about Meta’s metaverse vision and how it fell short:
Meta’s Metaverse Disaster: Thousands Fired, Projects Abandoned. But “It’s Still the Future”?
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