Zuckerberg Says Don't Count Metaverse Out Just Yet: 'If You Look At How Much We're Investing...'

Meta Platforms Inc. META CEO Mark Zuckerberg has reaffirmed his commitment to the metaverse despite the current AI hype.

What Happened: In an interview with the Morning Brew Daily podcast last week, Zuckerberg addressed the apparent overshadowing of the metaverse by AI.

The podcaster pointed out that “AI” was mentioned 70 times on Meta’s latest earnings call, compared to just seven mentions of the “metaverse.” 

They then asked Zuckerberg if the industry focuses on AI, making the metaverse feel outdated. "How much did your strategy shift after AI kind of blew up when ChatGPT was released?"

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In response, the Meta CEO said that the company has invested heavily in AI and the metaverse for over a decade. He also acknowledged that industry trends may influence the company’s public discussions but stressed that Meta remains committed to both AI and the metaverse for the long term.

"If you just look at how much we’re investing, it’s like $15 billion a year at least into each of them. So, yeah, I mean, what we talk about will vary at different points. And yeah, like what we see happening in the industry, what will help sharpen our product strategy and our sense of what we can be building," Zuckerberg stated.

"Right now, I definitely think where we are in the hype cycle is much more, you know, people want to talk about AI. Whereas in 2021, 2022, I think people were pretty excited about talking about the metaverse," he said, adding, "Now, I think we’re in this mode where people are waiting for the products to get like more fully adopted, but like we’re just kind of quietly churning and building this stuff in the background."

"Like I don’t care that much whether something is cool one year or not," Zuckerberg said, indicating that Metaverse will continue to remain a tech giant’s priority. 

Why It Matters: Zuckerberg’s comments come when Meta’s metaverse initiatives have faced significant scrutiny.

Last year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk publicly mocked Meta’s $36 billion metaverse investment, calling it a “genius move.” 

Later that year, it was reported that the tech giant was preparing to lay off employees in its metaverse-oriented silicon unit, Reality Labs, raising questions about its metaverse strategy.

Meanwhile, earlier this month, both Meta CEO and CTO gave the verdict of putting their company's Quest 3 above Apple's first-generation mixed reality headset, Vision Pro. 

While Zuckerberg said, "I don’t just think that Quest is the better value. I think Quest is the better product, period,” Andrew Bosworth criticized the rival company's device, citing its substantial weight and unsatisfactory trade-offs. 

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.