The Meta Developer Conference "MetaConnect" will kick off at 10:00 am Pacific time on the 27th (1:00 am Beijing time on the 28th). At that time, the company's CEO Mark Zuckerberg will introduce to investors Meta's latest plan to create a "metaverse".
MetaConnect is Meta's most important event this year. An important aspect of this conference is how Zuckerberg will respond to investor enthusiasm from augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technologies to artificial intelligence.
The event is significant because investors last year blasted Meta for overinvesting in VR, prompting Zuckerberg to lay off tens of thousands of employees to continue funding his "Metaverse" vision.
For developers, they'll be watching closely to see what apps can be developed for Meta's latest hardware devices, such as the next-generation Quest VR headset, which will be available this fall.
Meanwhile, investors will be looking for signs whether the "Metaverse" gamble that has cost the company more than $40 billion since 2021 will pay off.
Two people familiar with the matter said that the top priority on the day of the conference (local time on Wednesday) will involve integrating artificial intelligence virtual assistants into Meta’s applications. It was previously reported that Meta would release a generative AI chatbot at the Connect conference.
It is expected that Meta will release a new generation of VR headset Quest3 at the Connect conference tonight and discuss artificial intelligence chatbots and other tools and features. These tools and features are designed to keep users interested in Facebook and Instagram as the market becomes increasingly competitive.
This is also the biggest challenge currently facing Meta. Industry analyst Yorkam Wurmser said: "Many efforts around chatbots, stories and other aspects are just to keep interactions personalized, such as artificial intelligence-driven personalization functions. This is also the primary challenge facing Meta."
Meta has laid off more than 20,000 people since November, squeezed by a decline in online advertising and global economic uncertainty. Zuckerberg called 2023 the company's "year of efficiency." While laying off employees, Meta is focusing on recruiting more technical personnel, such as artificial intelligence experts, to focus on Meta's long-term vision.
Artificial intelligence is at the core of this vision. This summer, Meta released the next-generation artificial intelligence large language model Llama2, which is free for research and commercial use.
Just ahead of Connect, Meta said it was following through on a plan announced early last year to launch mobile and web versions of its flagship social VR platform HorizonWorlds. Additionally, Meta has quietly added legs to its previously upper-body-only VR avatar.