Facebook’s mother Meta makes a lot of money from advertising. In the future, particular emphasis will be placed on artificial intelligence (AI) to make Instagram, WhatsApp and VR glasses more attractive.
In March, an average of 3.24 billion users worldwide accessed at least one app from the Meta Group, which also includes Instagram and WhatsApp, among others. However, the question remains as to where future business lies for the Facebook parent and how even more users can be attracted.
Sunglasses with AI
Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg therefore has high hopes for the networked glasses with camera, microphone and speakers developed together with eyewear manufacturer Ray-Ban. For example, the AI in the glasses can answer questions about what a user is currently looking at. “Glasses are the perfect device for an AI assistant because they can see what you see and hear what you hear,” Zuckerberg said.
The Ray-Ban glasses were developed by the Reality Labs division, which also works on the Metaverse platform and headsets for displaying virtual reality (VR). In the meta balance sheet, however, Reality Labs have so far been a chronic loss-maker.
Better chatbots
The topic of AI is also becoming increasingly important for Meta in other contexts: Since last week, buttons that activate an AI assistant have been appearing in Meta apps in the USA and several other countries. Zuckerberg points out that the Facebook Group’s approach of first building services that are popular with users and only then thinking about making money has worked time and again. He sees business opportunities, among other things, in communication between companies and their customers on Meta platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
Zuckerberg imagines “AI agents” that, unlike today’s chatbots, not only answer individual questions, but could also take on more complex tasks for users that require their own actions and research in the background.
Goal: Number one in artificial intelligence
The in-house assistant Meta AI should become the “world’s leading AI service in terms of both quality and use,” announced the Facebook founder. At the same time, Zuckerberg warned investors that the AI offensive would be expensive with investments in software and technology – but that it could take years for the company to make money from it.
According to the information, Meta is calculating investments of 35 to 45 billion dollars for 2024, up from 30 to 37 billion dollars, in order to catch up with the AI competition. This is more than analysts expected and is causing concern for some. Two and a half years after Zuckerberg renamed the company from Facebook to Meta to emphasize the focus on the future virtual “Metaverse” worlds, the prospect of further upheaval seems to be making investors sweat. After the new statements and the expensive outlook, the Meta share came under significant pressure.
Profit more than doubled
Zuckerberg’s big AI plans also bring the company into greater competition with ChatGPT developer OpenAI and other tech heavyweights such as Microsoft, Google parent Alphabet and Amazon, all of which want to play a leading role in artificial intelligence. The iPhone manufacturer Apple is trying to conquer the market with its Apple Vision Pro glasses and also wants to make an impact in terms of AI this year.
Overall, Meta’s balance sheet was good: in the last quarter, Meta’s advertising business continued to run at full speed. Sales rose 27 percent year-on-year to $36.45 billion. Profits more than doubled to almost $12.4 billion.
However, the business with the digital world Metaverse and glasses for displaying virtual reality (VR) continues to generate high losses. The Reality Labs division in question posted operating red figures of $3.85 billion. In the same quarter of the previous year, it had made an operating loss of almost four billion dollars.