Zuckerberg Bet $77 Billion on Being "Metaverse-First." Now He's Cutting and Running to AI.

In a moment of breathtaking corporate hubris, Zuckerberg renamed his entire company to "Meta" and declared the future would be spent hanging out as legless avatars in virtual conference rooms. Four years and $77 billion in losses later, the metaverse has fewer users than a suburban bowling alley. Reality Labs is getting its budget slashed by 30% for 2026, and Zuckerberg is now pivoting to AI—which he's betting $72 billion on this year alone. "Metaverse-first" lasted about as long as a Quest headset's battery life. The billion users he promised? Still waiting. The hundreds of billions in digital commerce? Mostly people selling each other virtual designer handbags that nobody wears. Economist Dean Baker summarized it best: Zuckerberg threw "$77 billion into the toilet." But don't worry—Meta's stock is doing fine because investors are now excited about AI. Same energy, different buzzword.