Zuckerberg’s AI manifesto doubles as self-promotion
NEW YORK, August 10 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Mark Zuckerberg's perceptions are not necessarily reality. The Meta Platforms boss published a lengthy rumination on artificial intelligence, arguing that the next technological frontier will be brightened by personalized agents and an entrepreneurial boom. For it to happen, however, requires open-source models like the one his company is pursuing, not closely guarding them as successful rivals are doing, he surmises. The conclusion renders an otherwise thoughtful manifesto as little more than self-promotion.
Zuckerberg posted his 6,500-word treatise, entitled “The Future is for Everyone,” on Monday. It lays out an ostensible vision of how AI will alter society, touching on jobs, taxes, cybersecurity, government oversight and more. In essence, he sees the rewards of democratizing "superintelligence" outweighing properly managed risks.
For Meta investors, the more pointed question is whether Meta can transform from an advertising juggernaut into a machine-learning contender capable of challenging competitors such as Anthropic and OpenAI. The $1.5 trillion company is on pace to generate a 55% EBITDA margin this year, according to estimates gathered by Visible Alpha.
Its wild strategic swings do not inspire confidence. Zuckerberg, for example, went all-in on the ill-fated metaverse, spending $70 billion and going so far as to rebrand his entire social-media empire in the process. When AI came along, he capitulated. Similar efforts to jump on the cryptocurrency bandwagon fizzled, too.
More recently, the owner of Instagram and WhatsApp has mulled a belated entry into cloud computing, according to a Bloomberg report, challenging established providers Alphabet GOOGL.O, Amazon.com AMZN.O and Microsoft MSFT.O. In July, Zuckerberg singled out business customers as a big opportunity and a “new muscle” for Meta.
Zuckerberg created Facebook more than two decades ago in his Harvard dorm room, but has acquired most of the rest. Meta also was just hit with a nearly $1 billion fine after a jury found that it misled customers and endangered children, adding to a long list of alleged wrongdoing that undermines the kind of technological authority the founder is seeking with lofty pronunciations on the next big thing.
This spotty track record also casts doubt on the company's ability to build an AI leader from scratch. Meta trades at 10 times its forecast EBITDA over the next 12 months, a discount to rivals and 25% less than its own valuation a year ago. As a result, it's hard to read Zuckerberg's essay as little more than a self-promotional ad.
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