2023-09-27 23:59:43
Meta unveiled its latest innovations on Tuesday, personalized chatbots and new augmented and virtual reality devices, as the Californian group fell behind in the latest generation of artificial intelligence (AI). At Connect, Meta’s annual event for developers, boss Mark Zuckerberg introduced “Becca, devoted mom to her pooch” and “Max, experienced sous chef,” two of 28 virtual characters created to interact with users .
They will have their own profiles on Facebook and Instagram, should have voices by next year, and some are played by celebrities, like Paris Hilton (“Amber, expert detective in who did what”) or the YouTube star MrBeast (“Zach, the big brother who gently makes fun of you”).
This was the first in-person edition of Connect since 2019, before the pandemic. Meta was eagerly awaited in terms of generative AI, which makes it possible to produce all kinds of content (texts, images, sounds, code, etc.) by simple query in everyday language.
“Hey, Meta, write me a funny caption for Instagram”
The group also gave details on Quest 3, its new mixed reality headset already presented last June. It will be marketed from 500 dollars and delivered from October 10. And the new connected glasses from the Ray-Ban brand (sold from $300) were also part of the show.
Generative AI now allows them to make more complex voice requests. “Hey, Meta, write me a funny caption for Instagram about my cat Adobo exercising,” Li-Chen Miller, vice president of the company, asked during a demonstration where she was filming her cat thanks to the camera integrated into the glasses.
At the end of 2021, during the pandemic, Facebook became Meta with the idea of becoming a metaverse company, described by Mark Zuckerberg as the future of the internet, after the web and mobile. But the road to augmented and virtual realities is strewn with pitfalls.
A difficult year 2022 for Meta
The Californian group went through a difficult year in 2022, marked by the first drop in its advertising revenue since its IPO in 2012. And Facebook lost users, before regaining them. The company, which had never launched a social plan in its 20 years of existence, dismissed 11,000 people in November (13% of the workforce) and 10,000 last March.
In this context, many investors and analysts take a dim view of spending on building virtual worlds. Reality Labs, the branch responsible for developing devices and applications for the Metaverse, lost $13.7 billion in 2022, and Meta expects a further hefty addition in 2024.
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