--- title: "Mark Zuckerberg Is Suddenly Weirdly Quiet About the Metaverse" description: "Hush Hush Meta, formerly known as Facebook, just laid off another 10,000 workers. But as Insider points out, CEO Mark Zuckerburg's latest — and increasingly commonplace, considering that the company fired an additional 11,000 employees back in November — announcement-meets-apology letter to his loyal Metamates, posted to Facebook on Tuesday, was missing one $15 billion-plus […]" date: "2023-03-15" modified: "2023-03-15" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/mark-zuckerberg-quiet-about-metaverse" categories: - "Future Society" - "Metaverse" - "Virtual Reality" tags: - "facebook" - "Meta" - "metaverse" - "the digest" --- # Mark Zuckerberg Is Suddenly Weirdly Quiet About the Metaverse ![Meta is laying off even more employees. In his announcement, CEO Mark Zuckerberg was notably mum about his favorite pet project: the metaverse.]() *\Image: Picture Alliance via Getty / Futurism\* ## Hush Hush Meta-formerly-Facebook just laid off another 10,000 workers. But [as *Insider* points out](), CEO Mark Zuckerburg's latest announcement-slash-apology letter to his loyal Metamates, [posted]() to Facebook on Tuesday, was missing one [$15 billion-plus]() phrase: the metaverse. The case of the missing metaverse wouldn't be such a big deal if Zuckerberg hadn't literally rebranded the entire company to follow his metaverse vision as Facebook's [extremely expensive]() "new North Star." To add insult to injury, though Zuck only made two off-handed mentions of the metaverse, he talked about [investor-friendly artificial intelligence]() at great length *—* going as far as to say that AI is currently the company's biggest focus. "Our single largest investment is in advancing AI and building it into every one of our products," the [swashzuckling CEO]() wrote in his Facebook message. "We have the infrastructure to do this at unprecedented scale and I think the experiences it enables will be amazing." "Our leading work building the metaverse and shaping the next generation of computing platforms," he continued, "also remains central to defining the future of social connection." Emphasis on "also." ## Baby Needs a Pacifier In fact, Zuckerberg only referred to the metaverse *after* talking about AI. After all, it's a savvy move, considering that uttering the phrase "AI" around investors is the Silicon Valley equivalent of shouting "squirrel!" at a dog park. "We do leading work across a wide range of advanced technologies and then distill that into inspiring products that improve people's lives," the CEO wrote in his rambling post. "We do this with AI to help you creatively express yourself and discover new content, with the metaverse to deliver a realistic sense of presence." To that point, it's not really surprising to see Zucko [lean this hard]() into AI amid this new round of mass layoffs. His [widely-mocked metaverse]() has come to be regarded as his number one pet project, and whether it actually pans out or ultimately remains dead in the water, it's still years away from realization. Or, perhaps, Zuckerberg is seeing the writing on the wall. Investors haven't been happy, and they've [made that clear](). The CEO is clearly finding AI to be a helpful pacifier for investor duress, and besides, Facebook still has plenty of cash to burn, despite the continuous layoffs. Let's just hope that Meta's CEO [doesn't get too dizzy]() from [all]() of these [pivots](). **READ MORE:** [*Mark Zuckerberg's metaverse ambitions are shrinking*]() \[*Insider*\] **More on Zuckerberg's AI ambitions:** [*Mark Zuckerberg Bows to Peer Pressure, Announces Pivot to AI*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()