Francisco (United States) - The decline in Meta (formerly Facebook) in the stock market since the publication of its last quarterly results due to the stagnation in the number of users and changes in the rules for targeted advertising, did not disappoint the determination of its founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, To reveal recently an artificial intelligence research program that the company is working on, it aims to create virtual worlds through voice commands and allow humans to have more realistic conversations using voice assistance and translation between languages, in a step towards building the virtual metaverse world.
Zuckerberg is betting that Metaverse, a futuristic concept for building virtual environments where users can work, socialize and play, will be the successor to the Internet.
Zuckerberg said at a Meta event focused on artificial intelligence that was broadcast live on the Internet that the company's project, which he calls Cairokee, is "a comprehensive network model for building voice assistants on devices."
The social media company, which recently lost a third of its market value after a dismal earnings report, has invested heavily in its new metaverse-building campaign and changed its name to reflect this ambition.
Meta also announced recently that its research team has built a new supercomputer for artificial intelligence that it believes will be the fastest in the world when it is completed in mid-2022.
Zuckerberg said Meta was working on a new type of AI model that would allow people to create virtual worlds by simply describing them as voice assistants. The Facebook founder demonstrated the new tool by posing as a legless avatar on a remote island, commanding artificial intelligence to form a beach, then adding clouds, trees and even a picnic rug.
"As we advance this technology further, you will be able to create more detailed worlds to explore and share experiences with others...using only your voice," Zuckerberg said.
The company also said it is working on creating an artificial intelligence system capable of translating between all written languages.
The world of Metaverse already exists in a simplified way through video games (Minecraft, Fortnite, Roblox) and social platforms (Meta Horizons Worlds, VR Chat), in which people not only gather to play, but also to interact with each other and in events.
After many scandals affected Facebook, the platforms owned by Zuckerberg became affiliated with the Meta company since last October. And while the social media giant owns Oculus, a leading manufacturer of virtual reality helmets, it is not the only entity seen as shaping the future of the internet.
Google was one of the first companies to make augmented reality glasses (it failed at the time), and hired engineers to “build the foundations of immersive computing,” according to a post on LinkedIn. As for its second competitor, Apple, it bought a number of emerging companies specializing in the sector, and began publishing information about a virtual reality helmet from its manufacture.
Microsoft mainly owns Xbox and Minecraft, and has pledged to buy Activision Blizzard studios in order to invest in them in the world of Metaverse specifically.
