MUMBAI - Seldom does a publication get to crow a triumphant "We told you so!" Even rarer is the instance where its critical commentary sparks a significant course correction within a major company. While the evidence establishing this fact remains largely circumstantial - post hoc, ergo propter hoc - Meta's recent abrupt volte face to shun the Metaverse following The Yuan's scathing critique might raise a few eyebrows nonetheless.¹

In early 2022, before the generative AI (GenAI) revolution swept the world and left everyone searching for their jaws on the floor, The Yuan suggested that Meta - née Facebook - was injudicious in spending so much money and efforts on the metaverse. In that seminal, clairvoyant article¹, The Yuan advised Meta to instead prioritize artificial intelligence (AI).

The Yuan is delighted to learn of Meta thus changing tack and plunging headlong into the AI space, and applauds it for making this wise decision. As The Yuan takes stock of Meta’s AI pivot, now is a good time to deliver our verdict on the company and its prognosis.

Why AI for Meta, why now? 

Much as The Yuan may naturally be disposed to assert that Meta knuckled under to its diktat, the real truth is a tad more obvious - huge red flags and global shifts that the Silicon Valley firm simply could not ignore.

First came its realization that Metaverse was overhyped - and the main cause of all this hoopla was none other than Meta itself. The signs were plain for all to see: Second Life, the original metaverse, has been in existence since 2003, but has not made nearly enough of a dent to warrant such largesse from Meta. While free 3D virtual world and original metaverse Second Life was clear about its true nature - truly a secondary life at best - Meta got carried a