Mark Zuckerberg is launching Meta Small Business in a company-wide effort to support entrepreneurship and accelerate AI adoption, Axios reported Wednesday.
The initiative, led by Meta’s President and Vice Chair Dina Powell McCormick and Director of Product Development Naomi Gleit, will focus on building tools across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp to more easily help small businesses grow and scale in the age of AI.
“In the age of AI, it will be easier than ever for people to build new businesses,” Zuckerberg said in an internal post shared with employees. “We want to build a service that enables this.”
Meta focuses on AI after scaling back Metaverse ambitions
The announcement comes as Meta steps back on its Metaverse ambitions and ramps up its focus on artificial intelligence after years of efforts in virtual reality.
The company announced last week that it is discontinuing its Horizon Worlds on Quest VR headset and that VR access will end on June 15th.
However, following backlash from creators, the company revealed that while certain VR social hubs and in-house studios will be phased out, existing VR worlds will remain accessible. The main focus of the platform’s growth is now shifting to mobile and web apps.
The move wasn’t entirely surprising, as it followed Reality Labs’ layoffs and continued losses. Horizon Worlds has struggled to gain a large user base since its launch in late 2021, leading Meta to separate its VR and mobile efforts for more focused growth.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Vivian Nguyen. Please see our Editorial Policy for more information on how we create and review content.
