After putting extreme efforts in chasing the metaverse, Mark Zuckerberg led Meta now wants to stand parallel with rivals in the AI hype.
In a Facebook post on Monday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the tech behemoth is now looking forward to create a new “top-level product group” that would primarily emphasise on generative AI — AI that can create content — to focus on “building delightful experiences around this technology into all of our different products.”
“Over the longer term, we’ll focus on developing AI personas that can help people in a variety of ways,” he said, adding that Meta is exploring AI experiences with text in WhatsApp and Messenger, and with images in Instagram.
Zuckerberg didn’t describe in the post what top-level meant.
Meta’s foot into generative AI follows a big rush into the technology after chatbot ChatGPT became widely popular. Big tech behemoths Google, Microsoft, and Snapchat all unveiled their versions of AI bots.
But Zuckerberg’s step into AI comes at a time when his focus is mainly on another product — the metaverse, a version of virtual connectivity which Zuckerberg sees as the future of the internet. His tireless pursuit into the metaverse cost Meta $13.7 billion in 2022.
2021 versus 2023
Compared to 2021, times are very different now. It was in 2021 when the Facebook parent announced its strategic focus to the metaverse. The entire tech sector is suffering from mass layoffs. Companies that over-hired during the pandemic due to the e-commerce boom are now facing a drop-off in demand.
Meta isn’t free from these challenges either. To snip away costs, Meta laid off 11,000 people in November last year and promised that 2023 is going to be a “year of efficiency.”
According to a report by the Business Insider, “Meta’s Reality Labs — which is building the metaverse — would be also subject to the company’s efficiency drive, Zuckerberg said on the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call on February 1. Measures include flattening the organizational structure, just like in other parts of the company.}
Meta’s also seeks to monetize more revenue streams. It started a paid subscription program for Facebook and Instagram called Meta Verified that starts at $11.99 per month if purchased via a web browser, Zuckerberg announced last Sunday. According to Wall Street analysts, the move — which resembles the Twitter Blue program — could rake in $2 billion in revenue for Meta.
On Monday, Meta’s shares closed 0.5 per cent higher at $169.54 and are up nearly 41 per cent so far this year.
