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Mark Zuckerberg Unimpressed With Apple's Vision Pro

Mark Zuckerberg Unimpressed With Apple’s Vision Pro

In the wake of Apple’s recent launch of the Vision Pro AR/VR headset, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg expressed his underwhelmment, stating that it is “seven times more expensive” and “requires excessive energy.” This comparison was made in reference to Meta’s own headset, Quest 3, which was unveiled just two days prior to Apple’s announcement, possibly timed strategically ahead of Apple’s WWDC event.

Zuckerberg, speaking to his team on June 8, expressed curiosity about what Apple had brought to the table under the leadership of Tim Cook. However, he appeared unfazed, as reported by The Verge. Addressing a group of Meta employees, he conveyed that Apple had no exclusive solutions to the limitations imposed by the laws of physics, asserting that Meta’s teams had already explored and contemplated these challenges extensively.

While some may consider Apple’s Vision Pro and Meta’s Quest 3 as direct competitors, given their close release dates and shared mixed reality functionality, early reviews suggest that both headsets become uncomfortable for wearers after just 30 minutes of use. However, one notable distinction sets them apart: Vision Pro comes with a hefty price tag of $3,499, whereas Quest 3 is priced at a more affordable $499. This significant price difference may dissuade AR/VR enthusiasts seeking budget-friendly technology from opting for Apple’s offering.

Even Tesla CEO Elon Musk took a ‘trippy’ swipe at Vision Pro’s cost in a tweet.

‘There’s a real philosophical difference’

Apart from the price difference, Zuckerberg thinks there’s a difference in the values shared by Meta and Apple. Sharing his vision, Zuckerberg said he wants the tech to be affordable and accessible, and that the company has already sold tens and millions of Quests.

“By contrast, every demo that they showed was a person sitting on a couch by themself,” he said. “I mean, that could be the vision of the future of computing, but like, it’s not the one that I want.”

He said, “Our device is about being active and doing things,” calling Metaverse ‘fundamentally social.’

However, Zuckerberg did take note that Apple’s Vision Pro is using a higher-resolution display than Meta’s Quest 3, with the former delivering 23 million pixels across two displays, more pixels for each eye than a 4K TV.

Meta isn’t playing around

Zuckerberg is not faffing around when it comes to making dents in the AR/VR space. Meta is funneling big bucks, to the tune of billions of dollars monthly, towards Reality Labs, the research unit of Meta. This has been a cause of worry for Meta’s investors due to the economic downturn and major economies slipping into recession.

But undaunted, Zuckerberg is sprinting to push virtual reality, while keeping an eye on artificial intelligence. In the same meeting, Meta announced that they will put generative AI into Facebook and Instagram in the upcoming months. It has been reported earlier on how Meta might be planning on embedding an AI chatbot with Instagram.

Mark Zuckerberg's Wealth Surges as Meta Beats Revenue Expectations

Mark Zuckerberg’s Wealth Surges as Meta Beats Revenue Expectations

Meta, formerly known as Facebook, has reported a revenue of $28.6 billion in the first quarter of 2023, surpassing Wall Street’s expectations. As a result, the company’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, has seen his wealth surge by $10 billion to top $87 billion, making him the 12th richest person globally. Despite having laid off thousands of staff, the company’s stock increased by 14% after the announcement, boosting Zuckerberg’s net worth.

Zuckerberg’s wealth took a significant hit in 2022, dropping by about $70 billion in the first nine months of the year due to Meta’s costly venture into the metaverse and the industry-wide tech slump. However, his current fortune is a vast improvement, standing in stark contrast to November 2022 when his wealth hit a low of $35 billion.

Despite the layoffs and the financial downturn, Zuckerberg is not backing down from his metaverse vision. During the company’s first-quarter earnings call, he assured investors that they would continue to focus on both artificial intelligence and the metaverse. This commitment comes even as Meta plans to cut approximately 10,000 jobs between March and May and has already axed 11,000 positions in November 2022 as part of their effort to make 2023 the “year of efficiency.”

Although Zuckerberg’s wealth has fluctuated, he appears to lead a modest lifestyle, except for splurging on Italian sports cars and Hawaiian real estate. Despite being one of the richest people globally, the 38-year-old Harvard dropout remains focused on pursuing his company’s vision, even in the face of adversity.

Mark Zuckerberg Meta 'No Longer Behind' On AI, Aims To Develop 'AI Agents' For Billions.

Mark Zuckerberg: Meta ‘No Longer Behind’ On AI, Aims To Develop ‘AI Agents’ For Billions.

Meta reported Monday its first quarter report for 2023, which showed $28.6 billion in revenue. In its statement, the company also announced that Facebook broke its record of daily active users, which stood at 2.04 billion on average for March 2023, an increase of 4% year-over-year.

Happy news for the tech behemoth, this comes after the company incurred massive losses in its Metaverse investments. CEO Mark Zuckerberg told investors in an earnings call yesterday that he won’t dump the company’s Metaverse plans to make a pivot into the artificial intelligence (AI) space but that he sees both of them working in tandem. 

Stating that the company’s focus will be on expanding its initiatives in AI, Meta is expecting that its capital expenditure will be in the range of $30-33 billion in the second quarter of 2023. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, “We are no longer behind in building our AI infrastructure.”

Meta’s quarterly profit decreased 24% from last year

The company also launched its very own artificial intelligence (AI) language model called Large Language Model Meta AI (LLaMA) in February. 

In an earnings call with the investors, Zuckerberg further said, “We’re exploring chat experiences in WhatsApp and Messenger, visual creation tools for posts in Facebook and Instagram and ads, and over time video and multi-modal experiences as well.

I expect that these tools will be valuable for everyone, from regular people to creators to businesses. For example, I expect that a lot of interest in AI agents for business messaging and customer support will come once we nail that experience. Over time, this will extend to our work on the Metaverse, too, where people will much more easily be able to create avatars, objects, worlds, and code to tie all of them together.”

This comes after the company laid off over 10,000 employees in a bid to “pursue greater efficiency and to realign our business and strategic priorities.” 

Meta conducted three rounds of layoffs, across all its companies and apps, in a span of five months. The company will be spending $1 billion in severance packages and other costs, of which $523 million have been realized in the first quarter of 2023.

“We had a good quarter, and our community continues to grow,” said Zuckerberg. “Our AI work is driving good results across our apps and business. We’re also becoming more efficient so we can build better products faster and put ourselves in a stronger position to deliver our long-term vision.”