Meta just made it official - the metaverse era is over, and AI-generated social feeds are in. During Wednesday's Q4 earnings call, CEO Mark Zuckerberg declared that artificial intelligence will become "the next big media format," positioning generative AI as the evolution beyond text, photos, and video. While Reality Labs posted a $6.02 billion loss and saw mass layoffs, Zuckerberg painted a future where Meta's apps greet users with AI that "understands" them and generates personalized content on the fly.
Meta is making a dramatic U-turn. After years of pouring billions into the metaverse, Mark Zuckerberg used Wednesday's earnings call to unveil a starkly different vision - one where AI doesn't just power recommendations, but actually creates the content filling your social feeds.
"We started with text, and then moved to photos when we got phones with cameras, and then moved to video when mobile networks got fast enough," Zuckerberg told investors, according to The Verge's coverage. "Soon, we'll see an explosion of new media formats that are more immersive and interactive, and only possible because of advances in AI."
The timing couldn't be more telling. While Zuckerberg spent nearly an hour discussing AI's role in reshaping social media, he barely mentioned the metaverse - the concept that once dominated every earnings call and prompted the company's 2021 rebrand from Facebook. Instead, he framed Meta's VR investments as complementary tools that will help bring AI experiences "to people through mobile."
The shift comes as Meta's Reality Labs division continues bleeding money. The unit reported a $6.02 billion operating loss during the final three months of 2025, according to Meta's Q4 financial results. Earlier this month, Meta laid off at least 1,000 Reality Labs employees and shut down three VR studios - Twisted Pixel, Sanzaru, and Armature - signaling a fundamental reallocation of resources.
