Meta’s metaverse business continues to post losses even as the company pours large amounts of money into AI, CNBC reported on April 29.
Meta said in its first-quarter earnings report that its Reality Labs unit, which develops virtual reality and augmented reality technology and wearable devices, posted revenue of $402 million and an operating loss of $4.03 billion. Wall Street expected Reality Labs to post first-quarter revenue of $488.8 million and a loss of $4.82 billion. The actual loss was smaller than market expectations.
Reality Labs’ cumulative operating losses have topped $80 billion since the end of 2020. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg (마크 저커버그) changed the company name from Facebook to Meta in 2021, judging that work and leisure activities would move to a virtual world.
Since OpenAI released ChatGPT in late 2022, a boom in generative AI has taken hold and Meta has also shifted its strategy to focus on AI.
Meta has faced assessments that it is lagging in AI, but it is continuing to invest aggressively in infrastructure, new models and services to keep pace with competitors such as OpenAI.
Chi-gyu Hwang
delight@d-today.co.kr