Parent of Facebook
The original social network, now an AI tech giant
Facebook was founded in February 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg along with Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes. It was originally created as "TheFacebook," a social network for students at Harvard University. It quickly expanded to other Ivy League schools, then to most universities in the US and Canada, and ultimately world wide. Zuckerberg moved the company from Boston to Palo Alto, California in 2004, receiving a half million dollars in funding from Peter Thiel. Over the years, Facebook changed from a social media company into a metaverse-focused tech giant, expanding into AI-powered services.
Early Years (2004-2012): The Rise of Facebook
2004: Mark Zuckerberg, along with Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum,
Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes, launched "TheFacebook" at Harvard
University as a social networking site for students.
2005: The company
dropped "The" and became Facebook, expanding to other universities and later
to the general public.
2006: Facebook introduced the News Feed, a major
feature that reshaped social media.
2007: Microsoft invested $240 million
in Facebook, valuing the company at $15 billion.
2008: Facebook launched
its "Like" button and introduced Facebook Connect (later becoming Meta
Login).
2012: Facebook went public with one of the largest tech IPOs in
history, raising $16 billion.
Expansion and Acquisitions (2012-2021)
2012: Facebook acquired Instagram for $1 billion.
2014: It purchased
WhatsApp for $19 billion and Oculus VR (a virtual reality company) for $2
billion.
2016: Facebook launched Facebook Live and faced controversies
over fake news and election interference.
2018: The Cambridge Analytica
scandal exposed data privacy issues, leading to congressional hearings and
fines.
2019: Facebook announced plans for a cryptocurrency (Libra, later
Diem), which was eventually abandoned.
2020: The company faced an
advertising boycott over hate speech concerns and invested heavily in VR and
AR.
Rebranding to Meta and the Metaverse Vision (2021-Present)
2021: Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook, Inc. would rebrand
as Meta, shifting focus toward the metaverse-a virtual reality-based
internet.
2022: Meta launched Horizon Worlds, a VR social platform, but
faced criticism over its high costs and lack of adoption.
2023: Meta laid
off thousands of employees (over 20% of its workforce) amid financial
struggles.
2024: Meta continued investing in AI and VR, releasing new
Quest headsets and partnering with other tech firms.
Meta Quest 3
About this item
This is the ultimate mixed reality device with Infinite Display for the widest and most expansive field of view of any Quest, 4K resolution, premium comfort, and the most storage. Two displays (2064x2208 resolution per eye) combined with Meta's Infinite Display optical stack.
Controversies and Challenges
- Privacy Issues: Multiple data scandals, including Cambridge Analytica.
- Regulatory Scrutiny: Faced antitrust lawsuits from the U.S. and EU.
- Metaverse Struggles: Billions spent on VR with slow adoption rates.
- AI Competition: Rivalry with OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft in generative AI.
Future Outlook
Meta remains committed to the metaverse while expanding into AI-powered services, including chatbots and smart glasses. However, its success depends on overcoming financial, regulatory, and technological hurdles.
Meta AI: History, Development, and Future
Meta (formerly Facebook) has been investing in artificial intelligence (AI) for years, but its AI initiatives gained major momentum after its rebranding to Meta in 2021. The company sees AI as a core component of its future, powering everything from social media algorithms to the metaverse.
Early AI Efforts (2010s)
Before becoming Meta, Facebook was used AI primarily for content moderation, recommendation systems, computer vision, and chatbots. Content moderation is used to detect hate speech, and identify fake accounts and harmful content. The recommendation systems personalize news feeds, ads, and search results. Computer vision is used for auto-tagging photos with DeepFace (2014), one of the first deep learning models for facial recognition. Chatbots technology is employed in Facebook Messenger, starting in 2016.
Key AI Research: FAIR (2013-Present)
Facebook AI Research (FAIR) was founded in 2013, led by Yann LeCun (a
pioneer in deep learning).
Focused on natural language processing (NLP),
computer vision, and reinforcement learning.
Developed PyTorch (2016),
now one of the most popular AI frameworks, competing with Google's
TensorFlow.
Major AI Breakthroughs (2020-2023)
A. Large Language Models (LLMs) & Chatbots
Meta entered the
generative AI race with models like:
BlenderBot (2020-2023): An early
chatbot, but criticized for misinformation.
OPT-175B (2022): An
open-source alternative to OpenAI's GPT-3.
LLaMA (2023): A powerful
open-weight LLM (smaller but efficient, leading to many derivatives like
Alpaca, Vicuna).
Llama 2 (2023): Partnered with Microsoft to release a
more advanced, commercially usable model.
AI for Metaverse & VR
Codec Avatars (2019-Present): AI-generated realistic 3D avatars for VR
meetings.
Voicebox (2023): An AI speech generator for real-time
translations in the metaverse.
AI in Social Media
Recommendation Systems: AI powers TikTok-like Reels, ad targeting, and
Explore feeds.
Generative AI Features (2023):
AI Stickers
(text-to-sticker generation in WhatsApp & Messenger).
AI Personas
(celebrity-like chatbots, e.g., "Billie" modeled after Kendall Jenner).
Imagine (text-to-image generator, similar to DALL-E).
Meta's AI Strategy (2024 & Beyond)
Open vs. Closed AI
Unlike OpenAI (closed models), Meta pushes for open-source AI. The goal is to make AI accessible but also maintain control over standards.
AI + Metaverse Integration
Smart Glasses (Ray-Ban Meta): AI-powered voice assistant & real-time
object recognition.
AI NPCs (Virtual Characters): For immersive VR
worlds.
Challenges
- Regulation: EU's AI Act may limit Meta's data usage.
- Competition: Trailing behind OpenAI (ChatGPT) & Google (Gemini).
- Public Trust: Past privacy scandals make users wary of Meta's AI.
Conclusion: Will Meta Lead in AI?
Meta is betting big on AI + Metaverse, but its success depends on:
- Open-source dominance (Llama models).
- VR/AR adoption (AI-powered smart glasses, Quest headsets).
- Overcoming privacy concerns & competition.
Ray-Ban Meta Glasses
About this item
CAPTURE WHAT YOU SEE: Take photos and record HD videos straight from your glasses with an ultra-wide 12 MP camera and five-mic system
LISTEN WITH OPEN-EAR AUDIO: Hear the world around you while taking calls, listening to music or tuning in to podcasts with open-ear audio
GET REAL-TIME ANSWERS FROM META AI: Ask questions and have conversations, like learning about landmarks or asking for restaurant suggestions as you stroll through a city
CALL AND MESSAGE HANDS-FREE: Take calls, text friends or join work meetings straight from your glasses
SHARE YOUR POV ON VIDEO CALLS: Share what you see without pulling out your phone
SHARE PHOTOS, VIDEOS AND LIVESTREAMS: Post content directly to Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger
Meta's LLaMA: The Open-Source AI Revolution
Meta's LLaMA (Large Language Model Meta AI) is one of the most influential open-weight AI models, challenging closed models like OpenAI's GPT-4 and Google's Gemini.
LLaMA is a family of advanced large language models developed by Meta AI, playing a central role in Meta's AI strategy as of 2025. Launched initially in February 2023, LLaMA models have evolved rapidly, with the latest being LLaMA 4 released in April 2025. LLaMA 4 introduced a mixture-of-experts architecture, supporting multimodal input (text and images) and multilingual output across 12 languages. Notable variants include Scout, with 17 billion active parameters and 109 billion total parameters, and Maverick, with 17 billion active parameters and 400 billion total parameters. These models boast impressive context window sizes and advanced capabilities for tasks like reasoning, conversational AI, and image-aware text generation, outscoring competitors like GPT-4 in some benchmarks.
The LLaMA models are integral to Meta AI's consumer products, powering AI assistants across Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger, accessible via server-side deployments. Meta also offers both open-weight versions and cloud-based endpoints for developers, supporting broad AI application integration. Additionally, Meta is preparing an improved version, LLaMA 4.X (or 4.5), anticipated for release by the end of 2025, aimed at fixing current performance limitations and enhancing real-world task execution.
Meta's approach with LLaMA includes openness and accessibility combined with expert-level capabilities, aiming to monetize the models sustainably while pushing AI innovation. The training data for LLaMA includes public, licensed, and Meta-proprietary sources, reinforcing performance and versatility.
Overall, LLaMA epitomizes Meta's push to lead in generative AI by offering high-performance, versatile, and widely accessible models that underpin many of its AI-driven products and research initiatives.
Links
Links to more resources about Meta's LLaMA . External links open in a new tab.
ai.meta.com/blog/llama-4-multimodal-intelligence/
ai.meta.com/blog/meta-llama-3/
omniscien.com/blog/predictions/ai-predictions-2025-meta-will-monetize-llama-ai-models/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llama_(language_model)
businessinsider.com/meta-superintelligence-lab-llama-4-new-model-launch-year-end-2025-8
siliconflow.com/articles/en/the-best-meta-llama-models-in-2025
techcrunch.com/2025/10/06/meta-llama-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-open-generative-ai-model/
cnbc.com/2025/04/05/meta-debuts-new-llama-4-models-but-most-powerful-ai-model-is-still-to-come.html
Meta AI
Meta AI in 2025 represents a major pillar of innovation for Meta Platforms, providing advanced AI research and deployment across its ecosystem. Meta AI integrates cutting-edge AI technology with a broad strategy to enhance digital communication, immersive experiences, and AI innovation leadership. Key points about Meta AI include:
AI Technology and Research
Meta invests about $40 billion annually in AI and virtual reality research, emphasizing computer vision, machine learning, generative AI, and natural language processing. It pioneers multimodal AI systems that integrate text, images, audio, and video for richer context understanding, powering smarter recommendations and immersive experiences. Meta's AI research is conducted by its specialized team, Meta FAIR, aiming for advanced machine intelligence that accelerates future product capabilities.
AI Products and Applications
Meta AI powers intelligent content personalization, moderation, and safety tools across platforms like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger. The company has launched its AI chatbot integrated with WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger, featuring contextual understanding, multilingual abilities, image generation, and real-time info processing. AI-driven enhancements include auto-tagging, speech recognition, translation, and automated alt-text generation for accessibility. Meta leads in AI for metaverse development, enabling realistic avatars, gesture tracking, voice recognition, and environment understanding, notably in products like Meta Quest and upcoming AI glasses.
Strategic Moves
Meta is actively recruiting experts for a superintelligence group advancing artificial general intelligence (AGI), aiming to push the frontier of AI capabilities. The Meta AI app serves as a hub for AI exploration and interaction, complementing devices like AI glasses and fostering community engagement with AI tools.
Links
Links to more resources about the Meta AI. External links open in a new tab.
meta.com/blog/connect-2025-day-one-keynote-ai-glasses-ray-ban-display-neural-band-metaverse-news/
about.fb.com/news/2025/04/introducing-meta-ai-app-new-way-access-ai-assistant/
about.fb.com/news/2024/09/metas-ai-product-news-connect/
digitaldefynd.com/IQ/pros-cons-of-meta-ai/
airtics.org/top-metas-ai-products-how-meta-innovated-in-artificial-intelligence/
research.aimultiple.com/introducing-facebook-ai-no-magic-just-code/