Stephanie Hughes

That's nearly double what it was in 2025.

One driver of that growth is what Meta calls its superintelligence lapse.

This kind of spending puts it right up there with other tech giants pouring money into their AI capabilities.

And it's a shift from a company that used to be very focused on virtual reality.

I talked about this with Mike Isaac, a reporter for the New York Times.

In its most recent earnings call, Meta mentioned building personal superintelligence.

Tell me what that is, besides frightening.

Yeah, I think you're getting at this, but what advantages does Meta have as it rushes to build these AI tools?

We'll be right back.

You're listening to Marketplace Tech.

I'm Stephanie Hughes.

We're back with Mike Isaac, a reporter at The New York Times.

I feel like five years ago, meta was all in on virtual reality, like it announced the metaverse, it changed its name to meta, you know, but recently the company has been laying off people who work in reality labs, that's VR and AR division.

Did VR lose and AI win?

Is there a path for them to blend the two?

To blend AI and VR?

That's Mike Isaac, a reporter at The New York Times.

Daniel Shin produced this episode.

I'm Stephanie Hughes, and that's Marketplace Tech.

What's your major?