3.2 Billion+ Meta Users, Betting Big On AI, More: Top 6 Takeaways From Mark Zuckerberg's Earnings Call

Zuckerberg outlined Meta's significant investments in AI, covering various aspects from Meta AI, an AI assistant integrated across Meta's platforms, to business AI solutions for customer support and sales.

Zuckerberg affirmed Meta's commitment to scaling AI services, despite the anticipated delay in revenue generation.

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Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook-parent Meta, discussed the social media giant's latest advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and its financial performance during an earnings call. Among other pointers, Zuckerberg highlighted how AI drives over 50 per cent of content on Instagram and over 30 per cent of content on Facebook News. He reaffirmed Meta's commitment to AI and how it plans to go all out to leverage the technology. 

Top Takeaways From Mark Zuckerberg's Meta Earnings Call

Over 3.2 Billion Meta Users

During the call, Zuckerberg shared Meta's quarterly earnings report, highlighting a promising start to the year. He noted that more than 3.2 billion people use at least one of Meta's apps daily, with significant growth observed in the US market. Zuckerberg specifically praised the growth of WhatsApp in the US, emphasising its increasing momentum.

Going Big On AI

Zuckerberg outlined Meta's significant investments in AI, covering various aspects from Meta AI, an AI assistant integrated across Meta's platforms, to business AI solutions for customer support and sales. He highlighted the recent launch of Meta AI's latest version, powered by the advanced Llama 3 model, which has garnered positive feedback from users.

Meta AI's capabilities now extend beyond answering queries, with features such as creating animations from images and generating high-quality images in real time. Zuckerberg expressed satisfaction with the progress of Llama 3, foreseeing further improvements through open-source contributions.

Possible Delay In Revenue Generation

Acknowledging the substantial investment required for AI development, Zuckerberg affirmed Meta's commitment to scaling AI services, despite the anticipated delay in revenue generation. He emphasised the company's historical success in monetising new products once they reach scale and highlighted the potential avenues for revenue generation from AI services, including business messaging, advertisements, and paid content.

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AI Drives Over Half Of Instagram Content

Zuckerberg emphasised the integration of AI into Meta's products, particularly in content recommendation systems. He revealed that AI currently drives 30 per cent of Facebook's news feed content and over 50 per cent of content on Instagram, showcasing its pivotal role in enhancing user experience and ad targeting.

Success Of Ray-Ban Meta Glasses

Beyond AI, Zuckerberg discussed Meta's focus on developing the metaverse and wearable AI devices. He highlighted the success of Ray-Ban Meta glasses and announced the release of new designs to cater to diverse consumer preferences. Additionally, he unveiled Meta's decision to open Meta Horizon OS, the operating system powering Quest, to foster innovation and diversity in virtual and mixed-reality headset designs.

Growing Popularity Of Video Content

Lastly, Zuckerberg touched upon improvements in Meta's apps, highlighting the growing popularity of video content, particularly on Facebook and Instagram. He mentioned the launch of an updated full-screen video player on Facebook and the increasing engagement with Reels on Instagram.

Zuckerberg's claim of AI developments taking its time to show dividends for the company is not unfounded. "Much like every other technology which is in its infancy, Generative AI will take a few years to develop and deliver profits for the big tech companies which are investing billions of dollars in it. It is an expensive technology because the computing, data and talent take not millions, not even hundreds of millions but billions of dollars. In the next few years, Generative AI will have significant returns which will reshape the big tech," Jaspreet Bindra, Founder, Tech Whisperer UK Limited, told ABP Live.  

"For example, the cloud took more than 10 years to become profitable. However, it’s still not profitable for all the cloud providers. Similarly, Generative AI will take a few years to become profitable. Meta is investing heavily in open-source large language models and is clearly emerging as the leader. I completely agree with Mark Zuckerberg that these investments will bear fruit in the years to come," Bindra added.