Metaverse is dead! But, why hasn’t Mark Zuckerberg announced it yet?

Metaverse is dead! Mark Zuckerberg has decided to quietly bury his ambitious project as he redirects his attention towards artificial intelligence (AI). The metaverse was supposed to be the next big thing for Zuckerberg, and he even renamed his company, formerly known as Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, to Meta Platforms in 2021 to reflect this shift in focus. Here is all you need to know about the decision. 

But, why was there no formal announcement? 

The move appears to be an attempt by Zuckerberg to avoid acknowledging that he was wrong about the metaverse. “There will be no press release, no big announcement, as he would have to acknowledge that he was wrong,” the Street said in an article. 

However, it also reflects the immense potential of AI to revolutionize technology for both consumers and businesses. For example, AI-powered chatbots can efficiently carry out repetitive tasks, and AI-powered search engines like ChatGPT can provide human-like responses to queries.

What will be Meta's primary focus now? 

In the short term, Meta will focus on building creative and expressive tools for AI, while over the long term, they plan to develop AI personas that can help people in a variety of ways. This new focus on AI may help to ease the losses incurred by Reality Labs and provide new opportunities for the company.

Zuckerberg said in a February 27 post on Facebook, "We're creating a new top-level product group at Meta focused on generative AI to turbocharge our work in this area." 

"We're starting by pulling together a lot of the teams working on generative AI across the company into one group focused on building delightful experiences around this technology. ...

"In the short term, we'll focus on building creative and expressive tools," he wrote. "Over the longer term, we'll focus on developing AI personas that can help people in a variety of ways."

Reality Labs, the division responsible for the metaverse projects, recorded a cumulative loss of nearly $24 billion in 2021 and 2022, which has likely contributed to Zuckerberg's decision to shift the company's focus.

What will be the future of metaverse?

While the legacy of the metaverse remains, with Meta continuing to develop remnants of the virtual world such as headsets, it will likely be targeted towards specific audiences such as gamers and the crypto world. Zuckerberg's decision to shift the company's focus towards AI may spare him from humiliation but also reflects the potential of AI to revolutionize the tech industry.