- Mark Zuckerberg isn't in Asia just to enjoy McDonald's in Japan or enjoy the ski slopes.
- Mehta's chief has also met with many politicians and business leaders.
- As competition heats up, the meeting will put Meta's AI and mixed reality ambitions at the forefront.
Mark Zuckerberg is having a blast doing side quests in Japan.
Since arriving there last week, Meta's CEO has enjoyed some downtime skiing with his family, visited sword master Shohei Kokaji to craft a sword, and stopped by McDonald's to sample local specialties like the Ebi Ebi Burger. (He gives it a 10 out of 10).
But don't get me wrong. Zuckerberg's main quest this trip is all about business.
The billionaire is on the offensive this week to strengthen ties with regional leaders in Asia to strengthen Meta's AI and mixed reality ambitions in the face of regulatory and competitive threats.
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Zuckerberg's top priority is a series of meetings with politicians.
On Tuesday, Mr. Kishida met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to discuss AI, according to a report in the Japan Times, and rival AI chief Sam, who met with Mr. Kishida and several other political leaders last year. Followed by Altman.
“We had a very productive conversation about the future of AI and technology, and I'm really excited about the work that's happening here in Japan,” Zuckerberg said in comments to Japanese media after the meeting.
According to Bloomberg, South Korean President Yun Seok-Yeol is also on the list. Mr. Zuckerberg has a strong incentive to foster good relationships with these leaders.
They will play a key role alongside their international peers in determining how exactly AI should be regulated. It comes amid concerns that the technology could cause harm by facilitating illegal activities such as fraud and accelerating the spread of misinformation.
This is of particular concern to leaders as 2024 marks the biggest election year on record. OpenAI's Altman spoke at length about AI's impact on elections at the World Economic Forum in Davos last month. South Korea is also likely to consider this in the run-up to the general election in April.
Zuckerberg's company is focused on open source AI, so there will be more safety issues to work on. Open source models like Llama 2 are at particular risk of being restricted by regulators due to concerns that the technology could be easily weaponized by bad actors.
Yann LeCun, head of AI at Meta, and others push back on suggestions that open source AI is dangerous because of the enormous resources required to use AI models with malicious intent.
Mr. Zuckerberg will likely want to convince political leaders as well. His company is fully committed to AI, making it the company's biggest investment in 2023.
META'S MISSION TO BUILD A BUSINESS
Politicians are probably not the only people on Zuckerberg's mind during his trip to Asia. Business leaders are also on the agenda as some of Meta's most important products face new challenges.
Meta's Quests mixed reality headset series will finally face a formidable opponent this month after Apple releases Vision Pro.
Zuckerberg has been unashamedly vocal about the contest, posting a teardown video to Instagram, criticizing the Vision Pro's high price and being uncomfortable, while also saying, Quest is better in this respect.” for. “
While Vision Pro isn't expected to generate huge amounts of revenue for Apple from the get-go, Zuckerberg will likely want to fend off the threat as soon as possible.
That's why, according to local reports, he is expected to meet with the CEO of LG Electronics in Seoul to discuss a partnership on headsets.
Bloomberg also reported that Zuckerberg is preparing to meet with Samsung CEO Jay Y. Lee. The company plays an important role in manufacturing AI chips. Director Mehta plans to stockpile 600,000 AI chips by the end of the year.
For Zuckerberg, it's more like a working holiday than a vacation.