Aka Ekene, PBA Journalism Mentee
Highlights
– Mark Zuckerberg attributes Meta’s increased Q1 2023 revenue to the deployment of Artificial Intelligence (AI) that recommends content to users, leading to a 24% increase in time spent on Facebook and Instagram.
– Investment in AI has driven the results that Meta is currently experiencing, especially in monetization efficiency and daily revenue from Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns.
– Despite recent reports, Meta CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, confirmed that the company’s vision for the Metaverse project is still intact and will continue to invest in it alongside AI.
During Meta’s Q1 earnings call on Wednesday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg disclosed that the company’s investment in Artificial Intelligence (AI) has led to increased engagement on Facebook and Instagram, as well as a rise in revenue. Zuckerberg noted that AI now recommends content to users from people, groups, and accounts they do not follow, resulting in a 24 per cent increase in user engagement on both platforms.
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This deployment of AI has also contributed to Meta’s earnings growth of 3 per cent in Q1 2023. The company’s revenue rose to $28.65 billion, while daily active users on its platforms rose to 3.02 billion on average for March 2023, a 5 per cent year-on-year increase.
Meta’s Investment in AI
Zuckerberg also explained that the company has heavily invested in AI to drive revenue, and this has impacted the company positively. He further stated that the investment in recommendations and ranking systems has been the driving force behind the results achieved across Meta’s discovery engine, Reels, and ads. He noted that more than 20 per cent of the content in users’ Facebook and Instagram feeds is now recommended by AI, with this figure reaching 40 per cent across all of Instagram. Since the launch of Reels, AI recommendations have resulted in a more than 24 per cent increase in time spent on Instagram. The company’s AI work has also improved monetization, with Reels monetization efficiency rising above 30 percent on Instagram and over 40 per cent on Facebook quarter-over-quarter. Daily revenue from Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns has increased seven times in the last six months. In addition, Meta’s work to build out business messaging has also made significant progress. The number of businesses using Meta’s paid messaging on WhatsApp has grown by 40 per cent quarter-over-quarter, and click-to-message ads have reached a $10 billion revenue run rate.
Meta Continues to Invest in the Metaverse
Zuckerberg also debunked recent reports that Meta might have given up on its Metaverse project. He reiterated that the company’s vision for the Metaverse is still intact, and Meta will continue to invest in it alongside AI. He stated that the company has been focusing on both AI and the Metaverse for years now and will continue to do so.
Meta’s Q1 2023 Revenue Beat Expectations
Meta’s Q1 2023 revenue beat expectations, marking the first year-over-year revenue increase in three quarters. However, the company plans to lay off another 10,000 staff after disengaging 11,000 in November last year.
