Why Meta Killed the Metaverse (And is Failing at AI)

Why Meta Killed the Metaverse (And is Failing at AI)

From They Might Be Self-Aware by Daniel Bishop, Hunter Powers

April 1, 2026 · 35 min · Episode 169

About this episode

Hunter and Daniel discuss Meta's failures in the Metaverse and AI, including layoffs and software team dynamics.

Meta killed the Metaverse after burning billions on Horizon Worlds, and now their AI models can't keep up with Google, OpenAI, or Anthropic so Hunter and Daniel dissect why Zuckerberg's company keeps failing and whether 20% layoffs will fix anything. They also cover a LiteLLM supply chain attack, test whether local open-weight models like Qwen 3.5 can replace cloud AI for everyday users, and debate the "Pirate and Architect" theory for the future of software teams.

People in this episode

Hosts: Hunter, Daniel

Topics covered

  • Meta
  • Metaverse
  • AI
  • layoffs
  • software teams
  • Horizon Worlds
  • local models

Keywords

  • Meta
  • Metaverse
  • AI
  • Horizon Worlds
  • layoffs
  • LiteLLM
  • Qwen 3.5
  • software teams
  • Pirate and Architect

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Meta, Google, OpenAI, Anthropic

Products: Horizon Worlds, LiteLLM, Qwen 3.5

Books & works: Pirate and Architect theory

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