Zuckerberg's Meta Gamble: AI Glasses, Controversies, and the Post-Smartphone Era cover art

Zuckerberg's Meta Gamble: AI Glasses, Controversies, and the Post-Smartphone Era

Zuckerberg's Meta Gamble: AI Glasses, Controversies, and the Post-Smartphone Era

Listen for free

View show details

About this listen

 Mark Zuckerberg BioSnap a weekly updated Biography.

Mark Zuckerberg has had an eventful week at the intersection of business, technology, controversy, and even pop culture. The biggest headline comes from Meta’s annual Connect conference in Menlo Park, where Zuckerberg unveiled Meta’s newest AI-powered smart glasses, developed in partnership with Ray-Ban and Oakley. These glasses, equipped with bright displays and integrated with a so-called neural band, aim to help users interact with AI using just hand gestures and natural language. Zuckerberg boasted about a future where these wearables could one day surpass the smartphone, declaring that Meta is aggressively investing in AI infrastructure. This aligns with his statements on The Access podcast, where he acknowledged the real possibility of an AI bubble, noting that tech’s rush into artificial intelligence could outpace actual productivity and value—yet he maintained that failing to invest rapidly in AI poses an even bigger long-term risk for Meta.

Despite all the hype, Zuckerberg’s on-stage demo suffered from a now-viral glitch when he tried to answer a video call through the glasses and fumbled the interaction in front of a live audience. Coverage from Defector and other outlets had a field day with the botched attempt, while the Twitterati and Threads users mocked the moment, further fueling the narrative that the tech is still a work in progress. Still, the business commitment is immense; Meta has reportedly committed $600 billion through 2028 to building out data centers and hiring top talent for its newly launched Meta Superintelligence Lab.

Not all news has been glowing. Zuckerberg is under political and regulatory fire after a Guardian report revealed that Threads, Meta’s Twitter alternative, ran targeted ads using images of British schoolgirls in suggestive back-to-school contexts. Parent outrage and allegations of exploitation triggered a public relations headache, with politicians demanding the rapid removal of such content and heated discussion about Meta’s ad targeting practices.

Social media buzz around Zuckerberg extended to the trivial and the viral. Earlier in September, he attended the Oasis reunion concert at the Rose Bowl with his wife Priscilla Chan, where his selfie—shared by an Oasis fan page—was quickly met with jokes and jabs about his credentials as a fan and memes poking fun at billionaire culture.

In addition, as Meta’s AI ambitions ramp up, speculation about Zuckerberg’s endgame for the smartphone era mounts, with tech outlets and social comment threads wondering if everyday consumers are ready to abandon their cherished devices for wearable AI.

All these moves—splashy product launches, huge infrastructure bets, political scrutiny, viral gaffes, and the occasional LA celebrity sighting—position Zuckerberg as both a lightning rod for controversy and a relentless force driving Meta’s high-stakes leap into the AI-powered future.

Get the best deals https://amzn.to/3ODvOta

This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI
No reviews yet
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.