What's Next
The metaverse bet is still open, the AI race is on, regulators are circling — the questions that will define the next decade.
The AI race
The central strategic question: does open-source AI become Meta’s third great platform win (after the social network and the mobile pivot)? Zuckerberg has committed the company’s capital and talent to the thesis that it will. The outcome depends on whether open models can match closed ones at the frontier — and whether distribution beats research.
AR glasses
The quieter hardware bet: smart glasses (the Ray-Ban Meta line) as the path to augmented reality without the friction of a VR headset. If glasses with AI assistants become a daily product, the metaverse thesis gets a second, more plausible route to market.
Regulation
Meta faces antitrust pressure on multiple continents — including the FTC’s long-running case over the Instagram and WhatsApp acquisitions — plus evolving AI regulation and content-moderation law. Zuckerberg’s dual-class control insulates him from shareholder pressure but not from governments.
The business
The core ads business remains extraordinarily profitable and funds everything else. The bear case: ad markets are cyclical, Apple’s privacy changes already cost billions, and attention is fragmenting. The bull case: 3 billion daily users is the best distribution asset in tech history.
Succession
Zuckerberg is 42. He has majority voting control and shows no sign of stepping back. The honest answer to “what happens after Zuckerberg” is: nobody knows, because the structure was designed so the question never has to be answered.
Source notes
- Forward-looking statements on this page are analysis based on public filings, earnings calls, and reporting through 2026 — not predictions presented as fact.
- Regulatory matters: FTC v. Meta and EU proceedings are matters of public record; outcomes pending.