Meta's AI 'SuperIntelligence' Investment Could Be Its Next Metaverse-Scale Flop

Meta is investing close to $15 billion in a new partnership with Californian artificial intelligence company, Scale AI, in what it describes as a goal of developing AI "super intelligence." This would go beyond the usual end-goal of AI development for general intelligence, or AGI, and instead push to create something even smarter. But with no real scope of what such an intelligence would be, and no suggestion of any clear timeline for it, Meta risks this being another metaverse-like heavy investment on a road to nowhere.

Although Meta has had real success in developing virtual reality hardware in its Quest line of accessible headsets, the backbone metaverse project that it hoped to springboard into never materialized. Despite around $50 billion in investment over half a decade, the flagship Horizons social and game development program never attracted more than a few hundred players, and the project has largely been abandoned ...