Mark Zuckerberg’s Podcast Interview as Photorealistic Meta Avatar Tickles People’s Metaverse Fancies

Lex Fridman and Mark Zuckerberg, in their meta-avatar personalities, sat virtually face to face for a podcast interview.

Written by Radhika Parashar, Edited by Manas Mitul | Updated: 29 September 2023 14:49 IST

Photo Credit: X/ @lexfridman

The interview was facilitated by the Meta Quest 3 headset

Highlights

Zuckerberg rebranded Facebook to Meta in September 2021
Meta’s metaverse unit has seen consistent losses
Zuckerberg stays optimistic about the future of the metaverse tech

Mark Zuckerberg went bullish on the metaverse tech when he rebranded Facebook to Meta in September 2021. Despite incurring back-to-back losses in its metaverse-dedicated unit, Zuckerberg has kept his faith on this branch of emerging technology intact. On September 28, the 39-year-old CEO appeared for a podcast interview with YouTuber and AI researcher Lex Fridman. The interview, however, was conducted in a photorealistic metaverse simulation that seems to have left the crypto Twitter community excited.

Fridman and Zuckerberg, in their meta-avatar personalities, sat virtually face to face for this third podcast episode that they have done together. The interview came in the heels of Zuckerberg presented more details about the Meta Quest 3 mixed reality headset at the annual Meta Connect conference on Wednesday.

“This was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. It really felt like we were talking in-person, but we were miles apart. It gave me a glimpse of an exciting future with many new possibilities and fascinating questions about the nature of reality and human connection,” Fridman, who has three million followers on X, published in a post detailing his first-hand experience in Zuckerberg's vision of the metaverse.

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Here is a video footage shared by the podcaster, that shows Meta chief and Fridman wearing the Meta Quest 3 headset and engaging in what seems to be a face-to-face conversation.

Here's my conversation with Mark Zuckerberg, his 3rd time on the podcast, but this time we talked in the Metaverse as photorealistic avatars. This was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. It really felt like we were talking in-person, but we were miles apart :exploding_head: It's… pic.twitter.com/Nu8a3iYWm0
— Lex Fridman (@lexfridman) September 28, 2023

The members of the Web3 community expressed bewilderment at the hyper-realistic communication system that the metaverse technology could make possible.

The World is changing at lightening speed....people are going to interact, communicate, transact in metaverse in a permission less way.
— Kashif Raza (@simplykashif) September 29, 2023

This is pretty wild. I have to admit. pic.twitter.com/k3M4J3QGJE
— Max Layn Stein Cohen (@maxlayn) September 28, 2023

Everyone should watch this.

You're missing out if you don't
— Mark Zuckerberg - Parody (@MarkZuckss) September 28, 2023

Mark Zuckerberg wins again!

What a turnaround. @Meta congratulations :tada: pic.twitter.com/O9zlVXwAuu
— Global Media CEO (@GlobalMediaCEO) September 28, 2023

Despite Meta having recorded one of its best quarters since its rebranding from Facebook in 2021, the company's metaverse sector remains lacklustre. Meta's revenue climbed to $32 billion (roughly Rs. 2,62,377 crore) in the second quarter of 2023. Its fiscal second-quarter net income in 2023 was $7.79 billion (roughly Rs. 63,870 crore), up from $6.7 billion (roughly Rs. 54,928 crore) from the last year's second quarter.

Reality Labs, the metaverse-focussed division of Meta, lost a whopping $13.7 billion (roughly Rs. 1,12,200 crore) last year.

Zuckerberg, for now, is still expecting to see more losses in its metaverse unit but remains firm on his prediction that the metaverse technology will evolve and see adaption for day-to-day engagements.

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As per Statista, it was estimated that the global metaverse market stood at $65.5 billion (roughly Rs. 5,44,035 crore) in 2022. This year, the market is expected to rise to $82 billion (roughly Rs. 6,81,082 crore), before surging to $936.6 billion (roughly Rs. 77,79,526 crore) by 2030.

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Further reading: Cryptocurrency, Metaverse, Mark Zuckerberg, YouTube, AI, Meta, Avatar

Radhika Parashar

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Radhika Parashar is a senior correspondent for Gadgets 360. She has been reporting on tech and telecom for the last three years now and will be focussing on writing about all things crypto. Besides this, she is a major sitcom nerd and often replies in Chandler Bing and Michael Scott references. For tips or queries you could reach out to her at RadhikaP@ndtv.com. More