Despite technology giant Meta losing nearly $50 billion in its metaverse business, according to a senior executive, Meta is still heavily investing in the virtual world and metaverse.
Nicola Mendelsohn, Global Business Head of Meta, stated on Tuesday (January 16) that it will take ten years to fully realize the company's "Metaverse Vision".
She made the above statement at a group meeting at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday, adding that Meta is investing in artificial intelligence and related hardware for its metaverse business. This means that Meta's current investment in artificial intelligence and other areas is paving the way for its metaverse business.
However, in terms of performance, the metaverse business can be said to be "very poor". According to regulatory documents, since 2019, Meta's Reality Labs division has incurred a cumulative loss of $47 billion, mainly focused on developing virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and metaverse technology.
However, Mendelsohn still emphasizes that the work done by Reality Labs and the progress of Meta in artificial intelligence have a ten-year history.
Zuckerberg renamed Facebook Meta in 2021 and stated in a promotional video that the company will become a "virtual world company.".
In April last year, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg told investors that the company would not shift towards artificial intelligence, but would "always focus" on virtual worlds and artificial intelligence.
However, over time, people's enthusiasm for the Meta metaverse vision has gradually faded. Previously, Zuckerberg's virtual image of taking a photo with the Eiffel Tower in the metaverse drew a lot of ridicule, with many jokingly referring to it as the "90s gaming style.".