Grimes says metaverse is 'dead' if it’s run by 'under-qualified' Mark Zuckerberg

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is a little bit obsessed with the metaverse – even renaming his company ‘Meta’ to emphasise its focus on the idea of a 3D internet – but the musician Grimes believes it won’t last long if the tech entrepreneur “oversees” the virtual space.

The “lo-fi R&B” singer – whose real name Claire Boucher – shared her concerns in response to an Independent article about Mr Zuckerberg’s appearance on a talk show hosted by the controversial podcaster Joe Rogan.

She tweeted: “If Zuck ‘oversees the metaverse’ it is dead and people who care about art and culture are building something else.”

Mr Zuckerberg’s interview with Mr Rogan lasted three hours, during which he shed some more light on where he sees the metaverse going in the future.

He said: “I think there will be opportunities to wear things to augment the experience further, but I want to design this where you do not need to do that. You don’t want a set-up where you have 10 pieces.

“Ultimately people will want versions of this they can bring around, take on an airplane, in the office or in a coffee shop.”

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The Meta boss also revealed his company was working on gloves to enable wearers to “feel” objects in the metaverse, as well as “waveguide” technology made out of plastic or glass.

“So few of the physical things we have in the world don’t need to be physical. Chairs and food need to be physical, but most entertainment – like TVs – don’t need to be physical.

“It will just be an app on your wall and you will snap your fingers and a hologram of a TV will appear,” Mr Zuckerberg said.

Zuck’s comments – and Grimes’ response – are the latest development in the metaverse discourse, after the businessman updated his avatar for his virtual character after a previous version was mocked for locking “dead-eyed” in nature.

“I know the photo I posted earlier this week was pretty basic – it was taken very quickly to celebrate a launch.

“The graphics in [the virtual reality game] Horizon are capable of much more – even on headsets – and Horizon is improving very quickly,” he wrote on Instagram.

Elsewhere, a “cursed” avatar of former health secretary Matt Hancock has surfaced online as a result of his joining the metaverse – because of course he has.

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