What does it mean for Microsoft to abandon the Metaverse and embrace artificial intelligence?

Just two years ago, Microsoft executives were praising the Metaverse as a game-changer, just as they are now talking about ChatGPT.

#Before ChatGPT launched by OpenAI became popular all over the world , many believe that the Metaverse will be the next big thing and will change the world, technology, and the way we work like never before. Some experts say people will soon live and work together in virtual worlds that are more interesting, dynamic and productive than the real world.

Mark Zuckerberg renamed Facebook Meta for this reason, and Microsoft also hyped the Metaverse. In particular, the company's CEO Satya Nadella said in the keynote speech at the Microsoft Ignite Conference two years ago: "The Metaverse is a major breakthrough that we cannot emphasize enough."

But today, technology companies are becoming smarter and more cautious. The Metaverse seems to be a thing of the past, with AI at the heart of the coming changes. While Microsoft denies this, the company has effectively halted development on the Metaverse. The shift is alarming and a cautionary tale for businesses trying to invest in hyped cutting-edge technologies.

The Metaverse was once Microsoft’s “Tiffany Sweetie”

Nadella made a big promise in his 2021 keynote speech: “When we talk about Metaverse When we talk about the universe, we are describing a new platform and a new type of application, similar to the web and websites we were talking about in the early 1990s. And in a sense, the metaverse allows us to embed computing into the real world and embedding the real world into computing, bringing real presence to any digital space. For years, we have been working on creating digital representations of this world, but now, we have the opportunity to enter this virtual world and participate Among them."

Nadella envisions consumers and businesses alike reaping huge benefits from the Metaverse, "where people no longer just pass through the factory floor Instead of using cameras for monitoring and management, you can participate through the immersive experience brought by the Metaverse; people no longer just connect with colleagues through video conferencing, but can live with them in a common virtual space.”

The company has invested heavily in developing the Metaverse, strengthening the development of projects such as the mixed reality toolkit MRTK, the virtual reality workspace project AltspaceVR, the HoloLens virtual reality headset, and the industrial Metaverse unit.

Now she has become Microsoft’s “Mrs. Cow”

Microsoft’s investment in the Metaverse did not last long. The company recently announced that it would lay off 10,000 people, revealing that Exporting the Yuanverse is no longer an important business for the company in the future. Among them, the AltspaceVR team was fired, as was the MRTK team. Given that a new version of MRTK will be released next month, this especially shows Microsoft's view on the future development of the Metaverse.

Even more telling is that Microsoft is laying off all approximately 100 members of its Industrial Metaverse core team, which was established in October last year. In addition, Microsoft will also discontinue business related to the Metaverse, including the HoloLens headset.

Despite these moves, the company insists that it will still go all out to develop the Industrial Metaverse...

That being said, action is what counts. Microsoft is hastily withdrawing from any business related to the Metaverse, but has invested more than 10 billion US dollars in the field of AI and is fully integrating AI results into its products. It is obvious that Microsoft believes that AI is its key business in the future, and Not the metaverse.

What does it mean for Microsoft to prefer the new and dislike the old?

So, what does Microsoft’s move mean to individual users and businesses?

First of all, if a company has big plans for the Metaverse related to Microsoft, now is the time to take another look. Microsoft will only support the Metaverse at the edge, which means companies will be left to develop it on their own to a certain extent, and take this into consideration when deciding their next steps.

Secondly, enterprises should also be cautious in purchasing AI systems launched by Microsoft. Microsoft seems to be going all out on developing AI technology, investing billions of dollars and making high-profile announcements that it will use the technology in Bing. There is no doubt that AI will impact much of the company's business in the coming years. But it’s important to remember that just two years ago, Nadella was praising the Metaverse as a major breakthrough that Microsoft is now dismissing.

So when it comes to investing in AI, businesses need to be careful and not go all in until Microsoft is fully invested in development in the future.

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