The networker
Meta has poured tens of billions into its CEO’s virtual reality dream, but what will he do next?
Sat 13 May 2023 at 4pm BST
Dear ones, we are gathered here today to commemorate the metaverse that was quietly buried a few weeks ago by its grieving adoptive parent, one Mark Zuckerberg. Those of you with long memories will remember how, in October 2021, Zuck (as he is known to his friends) excitedly announced the arrival of his new adopted child, whom he had playfully nicknamed “The Future”.
He was so pleased that he even renamed his family home in her honor. From now on, what used to be called “Facebook” was called “Meta”. In a presentation at the company’s annual conference, Zuckerberg announced the name change and explained how his child would grow into a new version of cyberspace. It “will be the successor to the mobile internet,” he told a stunned audience of gullible hackers and cynical Wall Street analysts. “We’ll feel present – like we’re right with the people, no matter how far apart we actually are.” And no expense would be spared to ensure his child would fulfill his destiny.
One might have thought that someone who squandered $36 billion pursuing a personal obsession would have been a bit apologetic
On that last matter, at least, Zuck kept his word. He set about hiring 10,000 engineers in Europe alone and wasting countless sums of money to ensure that this vision became a reality. By the end of last October, the project had raised $36 billion (about £30 billion), and there had been little to see other than a pricey video of Zuck (who always manages to look like his virtual reality avatar) about it talked about how that went Good that it would be – “the experiences that you will have, what the creative industries will build and the technology that will have to be invented”. Notice that last sentence: What actually emerged was a virtual reality platform called Horizon Worlds, accessible only through boring and clunky Oculus headsets (think an uncomfortable version of Zoom), and a virtual wasteland created by textureless, featureless, legless avatars and landscapes that, as Forbes put it, “they look like bad Roblox levels.”
Unfortunately, Zuck’s promising adoptive child turned out to be a sickly, weak child. And so he had her quietly put to sleep on or about March 18th. Because he’d just found out that a new candidate for the role of the future had suddenly appeared, and he was saddened to realize that he hadn’t noticed the newcomer on the block while he’d been tending the weakling. It was called “AI,” and now Meta was lagging behind in the race for that new future.
Under the circumstances, one would have thought that someone who just squandered $36 billion of their company’s money on a personal obsession would have been a bit apologetic, right? Not a little of that. Why? Because he has absolute control over the company. In case you think I’m exaggerating, here’s the relevant section in the company’s annual SEC filing:
“Mark Zuckerberg, our Founder, Chairman and CEO, is able to exercise voting rights in respect of the majority of the voting rights in our outstanding share capital and therefore has the ability to control the outcome of any matter put forward for approval by our shareholders.” , including the election of directors and any merger, consolidation or sale of all or substantially all of our assets. This concentrated control could delay, delay or prevent a change of control, merger, consolidation or sale of all or substantially all of our assets supporting our other shareholders, or conversely, this concentrated control could result in the completion of such a transaction supporting our other shareholders not that… In addition, Mr. Zuckerberg’s position as CEO and his ability to control the election, and in some cases the succession, gives Mr. Zuckerberg the opportunity to oversee our company’s management and important strategic investments of our directors.”
Translation: He can do whatever he wants – including selling the company over the head of the board – and nobody could stop him. It’s clear that at least some shareholders had become uneasy about Zuckerberg’s pursuit of a goofy virtual reality fantasy, but that uneasiness was tempered by the fact that other parts of the company — boring, old-fashioned Facebook or (once) Instagram, for example (it got over its near-death experience called TikTok) – continued to make whopping profits.
But what if he now decides to rely on large language models and AI? And that at a time when the old, profitable areas of business are beginning to weaken? Suppose next time the unstoppable supreme leader brings down the entire building? If that were the case, the world would finally realize that Zuckerberg, and not Rupert Murdoch, is the current citizen of Kane. Just think: The Zuckerberg story could fill a gap in the market, after all, the succession is coming to an end soon. We just need a new Orson Welles to star.
what i read
Were you in a bunker?
If you missed the crowning glory, Helen Lewis’s account at the Atlantic offers plenty of compensation.
Are you content?
On Generative AI and Satisficing is an insightful Substack post by Dave Karpf.
Mind still wins
William Deresiewicz has written a soothing essay entitled “Why AI Will Never Rival Human Creativity” on the Persuasion platform.
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