Even a year ago, the hype was still huge, with someone pouring in over $450,000 to become rapper Snoop Dogg’s next-door neighbor on “Snoopverse,” and the City hopes the Metaverse economy will grow to 13 by 2030. estimated to be worth a trillion dollars. luck Editor-in-Chief Alison Shontel cautioned attendees: luckBrainstorm Tech conference this week.

However, the boom quickly collapsed. As the name suggests, Meta Inc., which has gone all-out to the Metaverse, saw its stock price drop by almost three-quarters in the second half of 2022. This is partly because we spent billions on the Metaverse but didn’t get a big return. Back up that big bet. Disney and Microsoft, meanwhile, closed their Metaverse divisions entirely.

So what does the future hold for the industry?

“The Metaverse hype is over,” Meta’s Metaverse head Vishal Shah confirmed yesterday during a conversation with Shontell at Brainstorm Tech in Park City, Utah. The flagship product of his division is horizon worldis now focused on user retention rather than growth, and building a valuable core product rather than sprawling expansion. He said the most popular use cases are “social,” gaming and fitness, not business.

Of course, the Metaverse, like other technologies that came before it, may just be returning to Earth rather than facing complete extinction. Apple just announced the Vision Pro premium augmented reality headset last month. Meta is still investing in a more “democratic” version of the Metaverse, Shah said.

But at least for now, much of the tech industry seems to be moving forward. The debate over AI regulation and the renewed battle between Twitter and Meta’s Threads is a new topic. Thread count surpassed his 100 million users yesterday. Breaking the record set by OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

For the rest of us, I would argue that the lesson here is to focus on the undercurrent, not the waves coming and going on the surface. The real question for business owners is how to keep their business model relevant in the digital age, not whether they should buy a virtual house next to Snoop Dogg. For lawmakers, it’s about how to maintain trust and shared prosperity in a world where technology naturally does the opposite.

See the news below for details.

Peter Vanham
Peter.vanham@fortune.com
@ peter van ham

top News

ByteDance cashed out

TikTok owner ByteDance will have some of its U.S.-based staff vest stock options early, without waiting for the social media company to go public. ByteDance is the world’s most valuable startup. $220 billion But the listing plan is progressing slowly Chinese regulatory oversight And a weak IPO market. TikTok too under pressure Comments from US politicians concerned about censorship and data privacy. Reuters

Junk fee

Bank of America will be fined $150 million for charging customers “junk fees” and opening fake accounts. The country’s second-largest bank sometimes charged customers multiple overdraft fees on a single transaction. Bank of America will also compensate customers whose cards have been opened without their knowledge or who have paid improper fees. new york times

fake nickel

A Hong Kong-based sandwich shop owner and a Dubai-based hotel chef are embroiled in a $535 billion fake nickel scandal. The two are reportedly the owners of two of seven companies accused of fraud by selling non-existent metals to commodity trader Trafigura earlier this year. The scandal raised questions about Trafigura’s due diligence as it ignored missing details about the acquisition. financial times

around the water cooler

JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon reprimands managers for working from home: ‘I don’t understand why leaders can’t have full access to their employees’ Written by Paige McGrawlin

Latest jobs data hides recession warning signs, say two top economists By Sean Tully

California Court Gives Microsoft and Activision Reason to Celebrate, But Their $69 Billion Deal Still Unsure By David Meyer

Tech Venture Capital’s Keith Lavois: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ policies ‘should be imitated in every state.’ Period, no exceptions.’ by Ellie Austin

GLAAD President Says Nike Was Right, Anheuser-Busch Wrong In Dylan Mulvaney Controversy By Emma Hinchliffe

This issue of CEO Daily was curated by Nicholas Gordon.

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