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    Metaverse Court Metes Out Real-Life Justice in Colombia

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    Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings is reportedly cutting staff in its augmented reality (XR) division and making plans for virtual reality (VR) hardware. As attention shifts to the new AI chatbot frenzy, many big techs have joined to reduce or abandon their spending on the metaverse.

    Tencent has bet on the concept of a metaverse of virtual worlds. Last June, the world’s largest video game publisher announced the official launch of his XR unit, which will power Tencent’s augmented reality business, including software and hardware development.Reuters report.

    Read also: AI-powered new Microsoft Bing search and Edge browser unboxing

    The division has about 300 employees, the report said. Tencent intended to develop a “ring-like handheld game controller,” but failed to break even, forcing management to shift its attention to more profitable areas.

    Big Tech Puts the Brakes on the Metaverse

    According to the report, Tencent’s XR project was not expected to be profitable until at least 2027.

    Tencent has become the latest major technology group to either let go of its staff and abandon its metaverse ambitions, or halt spending in the space altogether. Both Meta and Microsoft have significantly scaled back their Metaverse plans.

    The reduction is in line with the current hype surrounding artificial intelligence chatbots, which stemmed from OpenAI’s breakout hit ChatGPT.

    Microsoft is leading spending on AI technology, with billions of dollars pouring into acquiring ChatGPT power for the Bing search engine.Since the integration, daily access to Bing.com has been climbed According to Similarweb, searches for “Bing AI” have surged by about 700%.

    Rival Google has Bard, which failed to launch last week. This failure robbed him of $100 billion from the company’s total market value.

    “[Corporates] Entering a new area [metaverse] Ilman Shazhaev, CEO and Founder of the Metaverse Platform Farukanatold MetaNews. “Can you imagine Meta or Microsoft not innovating to keep up with their competitors?” he quipped rhetorically.

    “Lagging behind the latest technology is just as bad as stepping into a new, less profitable niche. The metaverse is a hot topic, so companies are doing good PR by having a presence in this tech niche.”

    “The world is not ready for the metaverse”

    The outflow of a global tech giant raises questions about whether the Metaverse as a working idea is losing momentum.

    In an interview with MetaNews, Sebastian Menge, co-founder of the Burn and Earn Fitness platform said: fit burn, Big tech companies say they may be pausing their investments in the Metaverse due to the uncertain future of the industry.

    “Artificial intelligence is different from the Metaverse. Artificial intelligence has more real-world utility, like ChatGPT to perform simple tasks or retrieve information,” he elaborates. bottom. “So I think this will stop the development of the Metaverse.”

    Continuing, Menge said:

    “In my opinion, the world is not ready for the metaverse, nor is the metaverse ready for the world. I would choose real interactions with people who are

    In January, Microsoft announced that it would be shutting down its virtual reality metaverse division, AltspaceVR, on March 10th. The unit will “focus on immersive experiences” with Mesh, Microsoft’s new VR division for its video conferencing platform Teams.

    The platform had user-created spaces called “Worlds” where users could chat, hang out, and host events. AltspaceVR can be thought of as comparable to Microsoft’s metaverse idea of ​​Meta. In total, Microsoft cut his 10,000 jobs as consumer spending declined.

    Microsoft has also laid off the entire staff of popular augmented reality projects HoloLens and the Mixed Reality Tool Kit (MRTK). In contrast, the Washington-based company reportedly invested his $10 billion in OpenAI, the private AI company that created ChatGPT.

    “The AI ​​frenzy will subside”

    A global economic slowdown has reduced disposable income across the region, taking a toll on businesses. To cut costs, several companies such as Amazon, Google and Meta (formerly Facebook) laid off thousands of employees in recent months.

    Virtual reality headset maker Pico, which is owned by Tik Tok parent company ByteDance, said last week that it had laid off an employee in its Metaverse division.

    Meta laid off staff at Reality Labs, the division responsible for the Metaverse vision, after losing $13.7 billion in 2022. The decision by Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg to rename Facebook in 2021 to reflect its focus on the Metaverse may signal a tough time. ahead.

    Farcana CEO Ilman Shazhaev said that “we are definitely at the peak of our hype” for artificial intelligence, but “the hype is growing, especially as ChatGPT is becoming a new trend. It will fit quickly.”

    He added that the metaverse and AI fields target different niches, but companies want to merge the two. He pointed to Farukana his Metaverse, his own project that uses AI to create art for games and GPT models to generate music and sounds based on the player’s emotions.

    “AI is perfect for generating content for the metaverse,” said Shazhaev. “In the huge virtual space of the Metaverse, content creation needs to be automated.”

    “Artificial intelligence can help generate not only music and text, but also images. ChatGPT is essential for enhancing lifelike communication in the metaverse.Therefore, there is great synergy between the two.” he said.

    the metaverse is not dead

    The world’s tech giants are opting out of the metaverse, but not everyone is so pessimistic. Last week, Dubai launched what it calls the ‘Mall of the Metabese’. This is a virtual shopping experience meant to mirror and feel like a real shopping experience.

    Big brands like Carrefour, VOX Cinemas, THAT Concept Store, Ghawali, Samsung Store coming soon junction the mall. This is a big statement from Dubai, the affluent city and emirate of the United Arab Emirates, famous for its luxury shopping and ultra-modern buildings. The Metaverse may not be dead after all.

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