The Metaverse Has Dimmed: How Meta's Pivot to AI Has Changed the Game

In October 2021, Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, stood on stage at the Facebook Connect conference, proclaiming that the metaverse was the next frontier for his company. He envisioned a future where the metaverse would reach a billion people, conduct "hundreds of billions" of dollars worth of commerce, and employ millions – all within the decade. However, three years later, the metaverse has taken a backseat to a new shiny object: artificial intelligence (AI).