Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, saw a significant increase in revenue last quarter. A final profit of $5.7 billion beat analysts’ expectations and drove the share price up significantly. Despite this, the company’s metaverse division, Reality Labs, suffered a loss of nearly $4 billion.
Metaverse branch will lead to more losses
While the $4 billion loss follows a total loss of nearly $14 billion in 2022, Mark Zuckerberg explained in the profit report out that Reality Labs is likely to incur more losses in the remainder of the coming year.
Earlier this year you could already read in the crypto news that Zuckerberg is steadfast and, despite the huge losses of Reality Labs, does not intend to change course with regard to the metaverse plans. Even with all the criticism the company has to deal with, Zuckerberg doesn’t give up easily and remains extremely optimistic about the future of the metaverse. The metaverse really is a long-term investment for him.
AI developments within Meta
However, the losses suffered by Meta’s metaverse arm were offset by the company’s developments in it artificial intelligence (AI) segment. Zuckerberg said the following about Meta’s AI developments:
Our AI work leads to good results in our apps and our business. We are also becoming more efficient so we can build better products faster and put ourselves in a stronger position to deliver on our long-term vision.”
While Zuckerberg recently labeled AI the company’s “biggest investment,” he said its metaversion ambitions still remain a top priority:
“There’s been a narrative that we’re somehow moving away from the focus on the metaverse view, so I just want to say up front that’s not right. We have focused on both AI and the metaverse for years and will continue to do so.”