‘MET-AVERSE’
Musk mocks Zuckerberg’s virtual-reality vision
Elon Musk doesn’t find the idea of the metaverse “compelling” — and thinks that bulky headsets being pushed by Mark Zuckerberg and other proponents of virtual reality are too awkward to catch on.
“Sure you can put a TV on your nose,” Musk said in a Tuesday interview. “I’m not sure that makes you ‘in the metaverse.’”
“I don’t see someone strapping a frigging screen to their face all day and not wanting to ever leave,” the Tesla and SpaceX CEO added.
The metaverse refers to the idea of a virtual universe that users access through virtual reality, augmented reality and other technology. In October, Mark Zuckerberg changed Facebook’s name to Meta — and insisted humans will soon socialize, work, play games and create art in the metaverse.
But in Tuesday’s interview with the Babylon Bee, Musk threw cold water on the idea, saying, “I currently am unable to see a compelling metaverse situation.”
‘I don’t get it’
He also weighed in on another trendy tech concept called “Web3,” which proponents say is a vision for a decentralized version of the Internet that will empower individual users through blockchain technology and cryptocurrency, reducing the sway of tech giants like Meta and Google.
Musk said that Web3 strikes him as “more marketing than reality,” adding, “I don’t get it.”
Jack Dorsey, who recently stepped down as CEO of Twitter to focus on payments company Block Inc., has also ripped Web3.
In a series of tweets, Dorsey argued that Web3 would actually shift power from incumbents like Meta and Google to venture-capital firms like Andreessen Horowitz — not individual users.
“You don’t own ‘web3.’ The VCs and their LPs do,” Dorsey wrote, referring to venture capital firms and their investors funding Web3 projects. “It will never escape their incentives. It’s ultimately a centralized entity with a different label. Know what you’re getting into.”
Dorsey even called out Andreessen Horowitz partner Chris Dixon directly, writing in response to one of his posts, “You’re a fund determined to be a media empire that can’t be ignored . . . not Gandhi.”
And when Musk tweeted a joke about Web3 on Tuesday, Dorsey referenced Andressen Horowitz’s name, writing that Web3 could be found ‘somewhere between a and z.’