A Legacy of Shifting Priorities

For years, Meta has navigated intense public scrutiny, particularly regarding its impact on young users. In 2021, amid a whistleblower’s claims, CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted a rebuttal on Facebook, expressing frustration over how the company was being represented. However, internal records indicate that his private priorities often diverged from public messaging.

Leaked correspondence revealed that Zuckerberg spoke with the unidentified person privately on WhatsApp regarding these safety concerns. While he acknowledged the importance of the issue, he candidly admitted that his main focus remained on building the metaverse, rather than addressing the criticisms surrounding social media safety. This pattern of moving quickly toward the next big opportunity has defined the company's tenure under his leadership.

The Metaverse Gamble and Reality Labs

The company’s strategic pivot toward the metaverse was meant to define the next era of the internet. Yet, years later, the project is often viewed as a multibillion-dollar money sink where nobody has legs. Meta's Reality Labs division has incurred over $80 billion in operating losses while attempting to turn virtual reality into a staple of daily life.

The company has faced significant backlash for its aggressive expansion, and lawsuits have piled up as regulators increase their oversight of social media platforms. Despite the challenges, Meta maintains a highly profitable core business, allowing it the financial runway to continue exploring new technologies even when previous experiments falter.

The Rise of Smart Glasses

If the metaverse remains a point of contention, Meta’s smart glasses have proven to be a surprising bright spot. After the initial Ray-Ban Stories failed to gain market share, the second-generation hardware has seen impressive growth. By the end of 2025, the company had seen millions of units sold through its partnership with EssilorLuxottica, and sales doubled in Q2 of 2026.

These devices have triggered a mountain of debate regarding privacy, leading some critics to label them with a pejorative moniker. Nevertheless, Zuckerberg sees these glasses as the essential platform for the future of AI interaction, suggesting that those without such technology will face a significant cognitive disadvantage in the workforce.

AI as the New Frontier

Meta is now aggressively positioning its AI agent, Muse, as the next step in its evolution. The tool was released in early September and has already seen significant adoption, with an Apptopia estimate indicating over 600,000 daily active users in the US. By integrating AI into glasses, Meta hopes to become the primary assistant in users' daily lives.

As Meta attempts to move past its recent reputation for privacy and safety issues, the success of Muse and its hardware partners will be critical. The company continues to operate as a sprawling empire, constantly iterating and moving on to the next opportunity in an effort to maintain its dominance in an increasingly crowded tech landscape.

Sources

• The VergeCan you forget how you feel about Meta?