Facebook (now known as Meta) is reportedly steering its new AI chatbots towards a business-focused direction, aiming to transform them into powerful tools for advertisers.
Bloomberg reports that Chris Cox, Meta’s chief product officer, recently unveiled the company’s strategic shift in the application of AI chatbots. Instead of solely focusing on engaging users, Meta sees a potential opportunity to cater to the business sector, particularly advertisers.
Facebook co-founder, Chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg (Getty/Chip Somodevilla)
“There’s a huge demand from business for better tools,” Cox stated. “One of the most profoundly impactful applications for the near term for AI is helping businesses be more effective.”
Meta has made significant progress in the field of AI chatbots in recent months. Just weeks ago, the tech giant introduced a series of free AI chatbots to users on popular platforms such as Instagram and WhatsApp. These chatbots, equipped with features like customized sticker creation and image editing, also boast a range of celebrity chatbot personas, all powered by Mark Zuckerberg’s latest generative AI technology.
The company’s approach has been characterized by a strategy of rolling out new features followed by swift actions to unlock revenue-generating avenues, primarily through advertising. This method has been a signature move for Facebook, reminding the business world that in Mark Zuckerberg’s surveillance capitalism empire, all roads lead to advertising.
After last year’s success of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has pivoted towards AI and away from the metaverse — the digital landscape that Facebook changed its entire name and branding for — in earnings calls and developer conferences.
Despite this shift, it is widely acknowledged that Zuckerberg’s metaverse obsession is driving employees crazy:
Business Insider reports that Mark Zuckerberg has become increasingly obsessed with the idea of a digital metaverse, to the point where many of his employees are becoming frustrated and annoyed with the concept. According to a former director-level employee who recently left the company, it’s “the only thing Mark wants to talk about.”
The same former employee stated that the company is “messaging the hell out of” the metaverse and is “spinning up teams that are metaverse specific.” One team will reportedly reach across all others within the company and inform them that there is a “metaverse playbook.”
Read more at Bloomberg here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.