Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg kicked off the tech giant香蕉视频直播檚 Connect developer conference on Wednesday with a focus on virtual and augmented reality and artificial intelligence
The company, which renamed itself Meta two years ago, unveiled the next version of its virtual reality headset, the Quest 3. It will cost $499 and begin shipping Oct. 10.
Standing in a courtyard at his company香蕉视频直播檚 Menlo Park, California headquarters, Zuckerberg told the audience of developers, employees and journalists that Meta is 香蕉视频直播渇ocused on building the future of human connection香蕉视频直播� 香蕉视频直播� and painted a near-future where people interact with hologram versions of their friends or coworkers and with AI bots built to assist them.
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香蕉视频直播淭hese are just a few we have trained, there are a lot more coming,香蕉视频直播� he said.
He also introduced the next version of Meta香蕉视频直播檚 Ray Ban Stories smart glasses, which let people record video or photos, livestream, listen to music and interact with the Meta AI assistant.
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Meta is in the midst of a corporate transformation that it says will take years to complete. It wants to evolve from a provider of social platforms to a dominant power in a nascent virtual-reality world called the metaverse 香蕉视频直播� sort of like the internet brought to life, or at least rendered in 3D.
But this transformation has been slower than expected 香蕉视频直播� and has already cost billions of dollars 香蕉视频直播� and Meta香蕉视频直播檚 main business remains advertising on its social media platforms, Facebook and Instagram. Competition with TikTok remains Meta香蕉视频直播檚 biggest challenge, said Insider Intelligence analyst Yoram Wurmser.
香蕉视频直播淎 lot of this effort around chatbots and stories and other ways just to keep engagement going (like) AI-driven personalization and stuff like that, that香蕉视频直播檚 the overarching challenge for the company,香蕉视频直播� he said.
Squeezed by a slump in online advertising and uncertainty around the global economy, Meta has since last November. Zuckerberg dubbed 2023 the company香蕉视频直播檚 香蕉视频直播測ear of efficiency香蕉视频直播� as it reduces its workforce while focusing on more technical hires such as experts in AI to focus on Meta香蕉视频直播檚 long-term vision.
Artificial intelligence is central to that vision. Over the summer, Meta released the next generation of its and made the technology, known as Llama 2, free for research and commercial use. On Wednesday, it unveiled an AI image generator named Emu, which creates images based on prompts from users.
Much like tech peers Google and Microsoft, Meta has long had a big research team of computer scientists devoted to advancing AI technology. But it香蕉视频直播檚 been overshadowed as the release of ChatGPT sparked a rush to profit off of 香蕉视频直播済enerative AI香蕉视频直播� tools that can create new prose, images and other media.
Zuckerberg said at the time that people can download its new AI models directly or through a partnership that makes them available on Microsoft香蕉视频直播檚 cloud platform Azure 香蕉视频直播渁long with Microsoft香蕉视频直播檚 safety and content tools.香蕉视频直播�
Barbara Ortutay, The Associated Press
