Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said his company is rebranding itself as Meta in an effort to encompass its virtual-reality vision for the future, what Zuckerberg calls the B次元官网网址渕etaverse.B次元官网网址�

Skeptics point out that it also appears to be an attempt to change the subject from the Facebook Papers, a leaked document trove that has revealed the ways Facebook ignored internal reports and warnings of the harms its social network created or magnified across the world.

Zuckerberg says he expects the metaverse to reach a billion people within the next decade. The metaverse, he says, will be a place people will be able to interact, work and create products and content in what he hopes will be a new ecosystem that creates B次元官网网址渕illionsB次元官网网址� of jobs for creators.

The announcement comes amid an existential crisis for Facebook. It faces legislative and regulatory scrutiny in many parts of the world following revelations in the Facebook Papers.

In explaining the rebrand, Zuckerberg said the name B次元官网网址淔acebookB次元官网网址� just doesnB次元官网网址檛 encompass B次元官网网址渆verything we doB次元官网网址� any more. In addition to its primary social network, that now includes Instagram, Messenger, its Quest VR headset, its Horizon VR platform and more.

B次元官网网址淭oday we are seen as a social media company,B次元官网网址� Zuckerberg said. B次元官网网址淏ut in our DNA we are a company that builds technology to connect people.B次元官网网址�

Metaverse, he said, is the new way. Zuckerberg, who is a fan of classics, explained that the word B次元官网网址渕etaB次元官网网址� comes from the Greek word B次元官网网址渂eyond.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址擝arbara Ortutay, The Associated Press