Meta’s $77 billion bet: Economist Dean Baker on Zuckerberg’s metaverse loss; calls it a cost to society
Economist Dean Baker criticizes Mark Zuckerberg's $77 billion Metaverse investment as a "stupid" decision, arguing it represents a societal cost by diverting resources from productive uses like affordable housing. Meanwhile, Meta is aggressively pursuing AI, acquiring startup Manus to bolster its chatbot and compete with rivals.
Economist Dean Baker calls Mark Zuckerberg losing $77 billion on Metaverse broader economic failure that ...
Economist Dean Baker has criticized Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg saying he threw “$77 billion … into the toilet” with his bet on Metaverse. The economist published a newsletter where he called Meta’s $77 billion investment into Meta's virtual reality push a “stupid” investment decision.
The newsletter titled “Did Mark Zuckerberg Throw $77 Billion of Our Money into the Toilet?” argues that Meta's Metaverse ambitions can be viewed as “just a mistaken investment decision, of the sort companies make all the time”. However, “the flip side to this story is that when companies make stupid investment decisions, as it seems Zuckerberg did with the $77 billion he threw into Meta, it is not just a loss on their books, but also a cost to society,” Baker writes. He stated that software engineers, planners and support staff were tied up in the project, alongside physical inputs such as office space, computing equipment and electricity. This, Baker argues “could have otherwise been productively employed,” suggesting even the construction materials used for Meta's expansion could have instead supported “affordable housing in the expensive Bay Area.”
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Baker, who co-founded the Center for Economic and Policy Research, warned that the AI investment boom is reshaping the US economy by fueling growth and absorbing talent.
However, it places heavy strain on power grids, which further complicates climate goals.
Meta makes it third largest acquisition
In another news, Facebook-parent Meta has announced the acquisition of artificial intelligence startup Manus which has Chinese roots. As reported by Financial Times, Meta has made its third largest acquisition deal after WhatsApp and ScaleAI. This move of the company underscores CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s aggressive push into advanced AI as the company is racing to compete against Google and OpenAI. In a statement, Meta said, it will “operate and sell the Manus service” while integrating its technology into products such as the Meta AI chatbot.
For those unaware, Manus is known as one of the best autonomous general-purpose agents and is also capable of performing tasks like market research, coding and data analysis.