--- title: "Mark Zuckerberg Goes Onstage, Gets Excited and Says Swear Word" description: "There's a new, chain-wearing Mark Zuckerberg in town, and you bet he's swearing onstage while being interviewed by another billionaire." date: "2024-08-01" modified: "2024-08-01" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/mark-zuckerberg-swear-word" categories: - "Future Society" tags: - "billionaires" - "mark zuckerberg" - "Meta" - "the digest" --- # Mark Zuckerberg Goes Onstage, Gets Excited and Says Swear Word ![There's a new, chain-wearing Mark Zuckerberg in town, and you bet he's swearing onstage while being interviewed by another billionaire.]() *\Image: Drew Angerer via Getty / Futurism\* ## Zuck Smash If you haven't heard, Facebook-turned-Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has entered his baddie era. He's a [UFC guy](). He's [wearing prominent gold chains](). He's [surfing in a tuxedo]() while drinking a beer and holding the American flag, as one does. And now — gasp! — he's swearing onstage. In a [live-streamed discussion on Monday]() with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang at this week's SIGGRAPH 2024 conference, Zucko scandalously dropped the F-bomb while discussing the merits of open-source versus "closed" platforms. Meta recently doubled down on its decision to embrace open-source AI, a move that, though [deemed dangerous]() by some AI researchers, has been billed by the company and its founder as "good for developers, good for Meta, and good for the world." (Zuckerberg even [penned a letter]() about why he's all-in on open-source AI models, in which he predicted that Meta's newly-revealed "frontier" open-source model, Llama-3.1, will be "an inflection point in the industry.") But for all of his open-source optimism, it seems that Zuck feels an equal amount of scorn for closed systems, which made him angry enough to curse on the livestream. **"**There just have been too many things that I've tried to build and then have just been told 'nah you can't really build that' by the platform provider," Zuck told Huang, "that at some level I'm just like, 'nah, fuck that.'" "There goes our broadcast opportunity," Huang joked back, to which Zuck offered his apologies. "Sorry," said the Facebook founder. "Get me talking about closed platforms, and I get angry." ## Eras Tour Zuck's "nah, fuck that" moment is the latest to cement the tech founder's newly more "accessible" image, as the billionaire's more relaxed new vibe was [described back in April]() by *New York Times* fashion critic Vanessa Friedman. Indeed, in the years since he first rose to global fame and vast fortune, the founder's public image has repeatedly gone through dramatic shifts. First, he was the 19-year-old wunderkind, depicted as cold and vindictive, if undeniably smart, in David Finchers' 2010 film "The Social Network"; then he was the guy who [got really sweaty onstage](); then, in the late 2010s, his face and persona became synonymous with that of [Facebook's Cambridge Analytica scandal](), and thus with an event widely seen as the tech industry meddling with the democratic process. But now, once again, there's a new Zuck. He's (sort of, [not really]()) shaking off the [failures]() of his beloved Metaverse, tossing on some bling, and sweatlessly throwing around a healthy dose of bad language while speaking to a crowd. Hey, if you get famous at 19 and go on to make your first billion by 23, it's probably fair to go through some personal transitions. At least there aren't any [in-office katanas]() anymore. That we know of... **More on Zuck:** [*Zuckerberg Reportedly Got Furious at Wedding at Mention of His Dumb Metaverse Selfie*]() ## 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]()