Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg kicked off the tech giantB次元官网网址檚 Connect developer conference on Wednesday with a focus on virtual and augmented reality and artificial intelligence

The company, which renamed itself Meta two years ago, unveiled the next version of its virtual reality headset, the Quest 3. It will cost $499 and begin shipping Oct. 10.

Standing in a courtyard at his companyB次元官网网址檚 Menlo Park, California headquarters, Zuckerberg told the audience of developers, employees and journalists that Meta is B次元官网网址渇ocused on building the future of human connectionB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� and painted a near-future where people interact with hologram versions of their friends or coworkers and with AI bots built to assist them.

B次元官网网址淪oon the physical and digital will come together in what we call the metaverse,B次元官网网址� he said.

Zuckerberg introduced an AI personal assistant people can interact with using any of MetaB次元官网网址檚 messaging apps B次元官网网址� along with a smattering of AI characters he called B次元官网网址渁 bit more fun,B次元官网网址� such as B次元官网网址淢ax the sous chef,B次元官网网址� who can help come up with ideas for dinner, or Lily, a B次元官网网址減ersonal editor and writing partner.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淭hese are just a few we have trained, there are a lot more coming,B次元官网网址� he said.

He also introduced the next version of MetaB次元官网网址檚 Ray Ban Stories smart glasses, which let people record video or photos, livestream, listen to music and interact with the Meta AI assistant.

B次元官网网址淪mart glasses are the ideal form factor for you to let an AI assistant see what you are seeing and hear what you are hearing,B次元官网网址� Zuckerberg said. The glasses will launch Oct. 17 and cost $299.

Meta is in the midst of a corporate transformation that it says will take years to complete. It wants to evolve from a provider of social platforms to a dominant power in a nascent virtual-reality world called the metaverse B次元官网网址� sort of like the internet brought to life, or at least rendered in 3D.

But this transformation has been slower than expected B次元官网网址� and has already cost billions of dollars B次元官网网址� and MetaB次元官网网址檚 main business remains advertising on its social media platforms, Facebook and Instagram. Competition with TikTok remains MetaB次元官网网址檚 biggest challenge, said Insider Intelligence analyst Yoram Wurmser.

B次元官网网址淎 lot of this effort around chatbots and stories and other ways just to keep engagement going (like) AI-driven personalization and stuff like that, thatB次元官网网址檚 the overarching challenge for the company,B次元官网网址� he said.

Squeezed by a slump in online advertising and uncertainty around the global economy, Meta has since last November. Zuckerberg dubbed 2023 the companyB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址測ear of efficiencyB次元官网网址� as it reduces its workforce while focusing on more technical hires such as experts in AI to focus on MetaB次元官网网址檚 long-term vision.

Artificial intelligence is central to that vision. Over the summer, Meta released the next generation of its and made the technology, known as Llama 2, free for research and commercial use. On Wednesday, it unveiled an AI image generator named Emu, which creates images based on prompts from users.

Much like tech peers Google and Microsoft, Meta has long had a big research team of computer scientists devoted to advancing AI technology. But itB次元官网网址檚 been overshadowed as the release of ChatGPT sparked a rush to profit off of B次元官网网址済enerative AIB次元官网网址� tools that can create new prose, images and other media.

Zuckerberg said at the time that people can download its new AI models directly or through a partnership that makes them available on MicrosoftB次元官网网址檚 cloud platform Azure B次元官网网址渁long with MicrosoftB次元官网网址檚 safety and content tools.B次元官网网址�

Barbara Ortutay, The Associated Press