When AI Wave Sweeps the Globe, Why Is Meta Still 'Stubbornly' Sticking to the Metaverse? A Future Battle You Might Not Understand!

These days, AI has become the hottest topic in the tech world, with various generative AI applications emerging endlessly, simply dazzling. But do you remember that "metaverse" that was once placed on a pedestal? Virtual reality (VR) headsets, NFTs, immersive experiences... these concepts seem to have suddenly "cooled down," becoming yesterday's news. Strangely, while everyone is busy chasing AI, Meta (formerly Facebook) is still pouring money into its metaverse division Reality Labs. This whole thing seems a bit fishy - what exactly is Zuckerberg plotting?

Many people might think that VR's "cooling off" is no different from 3D TV and NFTs back in the day - just a passing fad. Think about it, Magic Leap burned tens of billions of dollars and didn't achieve much; Apple's Vision Pro debuted with sky-high prices that ordinary people dare not even think about. And Meta's own heavily promoted Horizon Worlds had 300,000 monthly active users at launch, but a year later daily active users dropped to less than 1,000 - that data is indeed a bit awkward. Meanwhile, Meta's investment in the AI field is downright "extravagant," reportedly building 5GW data centers and spending hundreds of billions of dollars on "personal super intelligence." All signs are telling us: AI is the undisputed "new darling."

However, looking beyond these surface appearances, we might discover some overlooked "small highlights"
. You might not know that Meta's smart glasses collaboration with Ray-Ban has quietly surpassed the million-unit mark. What does this mean? The market isn't completely indifferent to immersive technology. There are even rumors that Meta is collaborating with the US military to develop augmented reality (AR) devices for battlefield reconnaissance. These seemingly insignificant pieces of news add some unexpected color to the metaverse's future.

Many industry experts have a consensus: Meta's metaverse strategy isn't some spur-of-the-moment thing, but a big chess game focused on the future. Axis Intelligence's digital transformation expert Simplice Fosso pointed out sharply that
Meta failed to become the "leader" in the mobile era (the market was divided by Apple, Android, and Samsung), and that lesson was truly bone-deep. So now they're not just building a headset, but constructing the infrastructure for the "next generation computing paradigm." Look, Apple Vision Pro, Google Android XR, and Samsung's Project Moohan are all joining in - isn't this clearly telling us that "spatial computing" is the inevitable trend of the future? Digital strategy consultant Ela Iliesi also added that searches for "AI glasses" are increasing year by year, and some regions' high dependence on mobile devices have paved the way for wearable immersive computing.

Thinking deeper, whoever controls the entry point for human-computer interaction in the future will control data, and thus win the platform war. Data extraction service provider MrScraper's founder Cahyo Subroto believes that Meta's series of moves is a long-term hardware game. What they want to do is firmly control the next "interface layer," ensuring that when future computing modes truly arrive, they won't be "strangled" by other hardware platforms. Whether immersive headsets or AI glasses, Meta is desperately seizing the high ground of "next-generation user interaction."

You might say, the Reality Labs division is losing so much money, nearly $70 billion since 2020, with a single quarter loss of $4.53 billion this year - isn't this just "burning money"? But looking at it from another angle, Meta controls 77% of the global VR market share (reaching 84% in Q4 2024). Simplice Fosso directly stated: when a company controls three-quarters of an emerging market's share, so-called quarterly losses are actually strategic "moat investments," aimed at preventing competitors from gaining a foothold. This isn't failure, this is clearly building strength for the future!

Of course, for the metaverse to truly become popular, there are quite a few challenges. MrScraper's founder Cahyo Subroto also frankly admits that current VR products on the market are more like demonstration pieces for "showing off muscles," far from being "daily necessities." AI-native wearable devices not only need top-tier visual technology, but also need to solve fast and reliable data synchronization, locally run edge AI models, super-strong battery life, and watertight privacy protection. These are all hurdles that Meta needs to continue overcoming. Moreover,
Meta's existing metaverse tools and platforms can't yet replace the "killer apps" we use daily like phones and tablets.

However, some positive signals are already beginning to appear.
Meta's smart glasses revenue quadrupled last year, and active user numbers doubled directly, proving that its AR strategy is quietly working. More crucially, the fusion of AI and VR will completely rewrite the rules of the game. Simplice Fosso particularly emphasizes that Meta's massive investment in AI and Reality Labs aren't operating independently - they're deeply integrating. Think about it, future AI-driven virtual avatars, real-time translation, and intelligent contextual assistance will transform virtual reality and augmented reality from initial "novelties" into truly indispensable "necessities."

So, while AI's clamor is deafening, Meta is quietly cultivating its metaverse future. Perhaps in the short term, we won't talk about VR as much as before, but if we therefore ignore Meta's long-term strategic layout and the enormous potential of AI-VR fusion, that would be too unfortunate. Behind this might be a "long-term campaign" we haven't fully understood yet, and Zuckerberg is patiently waiting for that "tipping point" that will completely change human-computer interaction methods.