Mark Zuckerberg might be all in on the metaverse, but other tech leaders are less enthusiastic—a lot less enthusiastic.
Speaking at the Wall Street Journal’s Tech Live conference Wednesday, several executives weighed in on what the metaverse is, with very few having kind things to day. While none directly referenced Meta’s multibillion-dollar investment in the virtual world, that company’s vision of the metaverse sure seemed to be on their minds.
“The last thing I want to do when I get home from work at the end of a long day is live inside a computer,” said Snap CEO Evan Spiegel, to the laughter of the audience.
Phil Spencer, who runs Microsoft’s Xbox division, wasn’t any more bullish on the concept of the metaverse, saying, “I’m going to get in trouble when I say this, but it’s a poorly built video game…Building a metaverse that looks like a meeting room? I find it’s not a place where I want to spend most of my time.”
And Apple SVP of worldwide marketing Greg Joswiak said the metaverse is “a word I’ll never use,” something Craig Federighi, Apple SVP of software, vigorously agreed with.
The SVPs are hardly the first at Apple to look down on the concept of the metaverse. Earlier this month, Apple CEO Tim Cook told the Dutch publication Bright (via Google Translate): “I always think it’s important that people understand what something is. And I’m really not sure the average person can tell you what the metaverse is.”
Even internal documents at Meta have been critical of the company’s efforts so far, with one saying, “An empty world is a sad world.”
Meta, to date, has spent more than $15 billion on its metaverse project, but uptake has been slow. The company has lowered its goal of 500,000 active users by the end of the year to 280,000.