Meta will take years to make money from Gen AI, says Mark Zuckerberg, upbeat about its prospects

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg told investors during Wednesday’s first-quarter earnings call that while the generative AI landscape is heating up, investors shouldn’t expect immediate profits from Meta’s endeavours in this area.

Despite Meta’s strong profitability, with net income exceeding $12 billion on $36.5 billion in revenue in the last quarter alone, the company anticipates a slowdown in revenue growth ahead. Concurrently, Meta is intensifying its investment in AI and the metaverse.

Zuckerberg drew parallels between the development of generative AI and the successful rollouts of features like Stories and Reels, highlighting the significant long-term potential of these investments.

However, he cautioned that building a leading AI platform will require considerable time and resources, likely spanning several years.

Meta’s AI assistant, recently integrated across Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp, has garnered significant attention, with “tens of millions of people” trying it since its widespread availability last week.

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Zuckerberg underscored the importance of sustained user engagement to determine the success of Meta AI as a product within social media apps.

Looking ahead, Meta envisions various avenues for monetizing its AI assistant, which is currently free to use. These include scaling business messaging, incorporating ads or paid content into AI interactions, and offering premium features for a fee.

Additionally, AI is expected to enhance app engagement, leading to increased ad views and more effective ad targeting.

Zuckerberg also hinted at leveraging Meta AI usage data to improve the quality of ads, aligning with the company’s strategy to deliver more personalized and relevant content to users. This approach differs from OpenAI’s model, which prioritizes subscriptions and enterprise solutions over advertising.

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Beyond its AI initiatives, Zuckerberg expressed optimism about Meta’s smart glasses collaboration with Ray-Ban, noting their strong sales performance and the device’s advanced multimodal AI capabilities.

He highlighted the emerging market for fashionable AI glasses, signalling a shift in consumer preferences towards wearable technology.

In summary, while Meta is aggressively pursuing opportunities in generative AI and wearable tech, investors should brace for a longer-term outlook on profitability in these areas. Despite the challenges, Zuckerberg remains bullish about the potential of these technologies to drive future growth for Meta.

(With inputs from agencies)