Zuckerberg is smart. Do whatever it takes.
Yep, one of the the most savvy tech CEOs right now, second only to Jensen. Metaverse was a huge misstep but it did get attention off of the scandals. Jobs made some poor decisions too, and Apple also did under Cook with the car project etc.
People who don't follow the research have no idea what the non-product teams at Meta are actually doing, and why smart people would want to work there on technology like this.
Facebook the product and the management of that have been an absolute **** show, and they've had many privacy missteps and decisions they should be held accountable for, honestly similar to what Google did with Chrome and other stuff, but both of these companies are putting their money where it counts in research and if / when we get to an 'iPhone moment' with World Models Apple is going to be dusted.
It's ridiculous to be conservative in these areas right now, especially with the wealth they have. Spin off a new company or fund a "stealth" startup and put all your insanely paid researchers there so other engineers don't get mad but don't just ...not do what's needed to keep them and advance the frontier.
I hate Facebook and haven't used a Meta product since last decade, but I welcome anyone who disagrees with this to come back to this post in 5-10 years and see how much winds up correct. I personally know and have worked with newer-hire researchers at that company, and what they're capable of.
Huge, nearly inconceivable change is coming in the medium-term future. Apple may provide the platform we use to access it, but unless major shifts in leadership and operations happen they won't be contributing much at all to the real work – and there is a non-zero chance that our notion of what a "platform" is might be completely different in a decade, in a way virtually no one can imagine right now.