In line with CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s “Year of Efficiency” goal to cut down expenses, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, plans to let go of another 10,000 employees. However, the announcement does directly indicate that artificial intelligence (AI) is now just as fundamental to the company as the metaverse. Mark Zuckerberg seems to believe that Meta might regain Wall Street’s favor and secure the funding it needs to advance its metaverse aspirations if it can develop its AI skills.
By stating that “our single largest investment is in improving AI and incorporating it into every one of our products,” Zuckerberg underlines the significance of AI to the company’s future in his Facebook post announcing the layoffs. Although Mark Zuckerberg made two references to Meta’s work on the metaverse in his statement, they came after talking about the company’s AI initiatives.
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In addition to the company’s aim of competing with TikTok, Meta’s shift towards embracing AI is also motivated by the sweeping hype in Generative AI brought by OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Microsoft’s Bing, and Google’s Bard. The For You page, which is driven by AI and offers a never-ending stream of short videos, is how TikTok first gained popularity. Meta is putting a lot of effort into making sure it can match those capabilities.
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The metaverse and artificial intelligence are at the forefront of Meta’s long-term plan, which is now one thing that is crystal evident. Yet Meta’s significant investments in Zuckerberg’s aim to make the firm a metaverse’s first business have had adverse effects on the finance. The company’s metaverse initiatives are housed in Reality Labs, which caused a $10.1 billion loss for Meta in 2021. It increased to $13.7 billion in 2022.
Meta can please investors while pursuing its metaverse goals by placing more of a focus on AI. If ever, it will be years before the metaverse is a bankable reality. As a result, Meta now wants to be called, at least momentarily, a metaverse and AI company.
