Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg articulated a significant strategic pivot during the company's Q4 2025 earnings call, emphasizing that artificial intelligence-generated content will supersede the metaverse as the next dominant media format. Zuckerberg forecasted an 'explosion of new media formats' enabled by AI advancements, suggesting current algorithmic feeds are merely a precursor to deeply personalized, AI-driven interactions, according to reports from the call.
Zuckerberg stated that Meta applications will evolve beyond simple content recommendation systems to feature AI agents that truly 'understand' users and can actively generate tailored, high-quality content on demand. This aligns with earlier comments from the CEO suggesting AI would introduce a massive new corpus of easily creatable and remixable content into recommendation engines.
The company has already begun integrating this vision, launching the 'Vibes' feed within the Meta AI application, which showcases short-form videos generated entirely by artificial intelligence. Furthermore, Zuckerberg hinted at future formats allowing users to generate and share interactive worlds or games directly from simple text prompts.
He suggested a future where any video viewed could become an interactive environment, allowing users to 'tap on and jump into it and… experience it in a more meaningful way.' This vision connects the generative capabilities of AI with immersive experiences, albeit through mobile interfaces rather than dedicated VR hardware.
Notably absent from the extensive discussion were concrete updates on metaverse milestones, though Zuckerberg maintained that investments in Virtual Reality and Horizon Worlds would complement these new AI capabilities. This downplaying of the metaverse coincided with reports that Meta’s Reality Labs posted a $6.02 billion operating loss for the quarter.
These financial realities frame the AI focus, as the company simultaneously announced significant workforce reductions, reportedly cutting at least one thousand employees within the Reality Labs division and shuttering three VR studios earlier this month. Meta recorded strong overall financial performance, reporting $59.9 billion in revenue and $22.8 billion in net income for the quarter.
To monetize its AI efforts, Zuckerberg informed investors that opportunities for 'subscriptions and advertising' within the Meta AI chatbot structure exist, potentially lining up with previous reports that premium AI features will move behind a paywall. This dual focus on generative media and monetization suggests a concentrated effort to establish new revenue streams alongside core social platforms.
