--- title: "Mark Zuckerberg Bows to Peer Pressure, Announces Pivot to AI" description: "The artificial intelligence arms race is barging ahead at full speed — and now, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is getting in on the game." date: "2023-02-28" modified: "2023-02-28" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/mark-zuckerberg-ai" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Meta" tags: - "facebook" - "mark zuckerberg" - "Meta" - "the digest" --- # Mark Zuckerberg Bows to Peer Pressure, Announces Pivot to AI ![The artificial intelligence arms race is barging ahead at full speed — and now, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is getting in on the game.]() *\Image: Jeff Bottari via Getty / Futurism\* ## This Ain't a Scene The artificial intelligence arms race is barging ahead at full speed — and now, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is getting in on the game. In a [Facebook post]() — how antiquated that feels now! — Zuckerberg announced that Meta is "creating a new top-level product group at Meta focused on generative AI to turbocharge our work in this area" in a statement [confirming his previous comments]() about his interest in the AI gold rush. The new venture comes less than 18 months after the founder and CEO [changed the company's name to Meta]() in his [obsessive pivot to the capital-M metaverse](). And it seems, for all intents and purposes, to be in response to the overwhelming pressure to [compete with OpenAI]() after its ChatGPT AI changed the game at the end of last year. Indeed, as [*The Atlantic*'s Charlie Warzel noted]() in response to the news of the company's most recent pivot, Zuckerberg "laid out his view of the future with very little mention of generative \[AI\]" during a [lengthy interview with Joe Rogan]() last year, which seems to indicate that *something* changed his mind between when the interview aired last August and now. ## Coming Soon While companies like Microsoft and [Snapchat]() are releasing their own AI chatbots, Meta's AI offerings won't be quite so on the nose — at least, not initially. "In the short term, we'll focus on building creative and expressive tools," the Meta CEO wrote. "Over the longer term, we'll focus on developing AI personas that can help people in a variety of ways." While there will be chat components with its WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger services, Zuckerberg added that the company plans to also introduce "creative Instagram filters and ad formats," as well as "video and multi-modal experiences," the latter of which could be a nod to the [expensive]() and [cartoonishly glitchy]() virtual reality services Meta has been developing since late 2021. "We have a lot of foundational work to do before getting to the really futuristic experiences," the CEO continued in one of the biggest understatements of 2023 thus far, "but I'm excited about all of the new things we'll build along the way." **More on Big Tech's AI sprint:** [*Fired Google Engineer Doubles Down on Claim That AI Has Gained Sentience*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()