Zuckerberg’s Embrace of AI While Keeping the Metaverse Dream Alive

Amidst the ascendancy of AI in the tech world, Mark Zuckerberg has reiterated his commitment to the metaverse, even as artificial intelligence takes center stage.

Even the most ardent advocate of the metaverse, Zuckerberg himself, cannot ignore the undeniable influence of AI, which has permeated nearly every facet of our daily existence.

In a recent post on Threads, he articulated his strategy: “I am bringing our AI research efforts closer together to support our long-term goals of building general intelligence, open sourcing it responsibly, and making it accessible and beneficial to everyone in their everyday lives.”

Meta, which rebranded just prior to the AI surge to underscore its dedication to the virtual realm, is concurrently working on constructing what Zuckerberg refers to as “an absolutely massive amount of infrastructure” to propel the development of general intelligence.

Zuckerberg shared further insights, revealing, “By the end of this year, we’re going to have around 350,000 Nvidia A100s, or roughly 600,000 H100 equivalents of computing power if you factor in other GPUs.”

Additionally, the company is currently engaged in training Llama 3 and has outlined an exciting roadmap for future AI models, emphasizing responsible and secure training practices.

While the focus on AI is undeniable, Zuckerberg remains a steadfast supporter of the metaverse, recognizing its potential synergy with artificial intelligence. He envisions that AI interaction will become an integral part of daily life, and for this purpose, wearable devices like glasses are primed to play a pivotal role.

“Over time, I believe many of us will interact with AI throughout the day, and I think a significant portion of those interactions will occur through glasses. Glasses offer the ideal form factor for enabling AI to see and hear what you do,” Zuckerberg asserted.

According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), which convened for its 54th Annual Meeting in Davos recently, the metaverse market is projected to be valued between $6-13 trillion by 2030. Despite occasional hiccups and criticisms regarding issues like awkward avatars and cumbersome VR headsets, the metaverse is steadily expanding its reach, encompassing broader domains. Global revenues from the metaverse are poised to reach an impressive $800 billion in 2024, a figure rivaling the GDP of countries like Poland, Taiwan, or Switzerland.