Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg kicks off developer conference with focus on AI, virtual reality

By BARBARA ORTUTAY
AP Technology Writer

MENLO PARK, California (AP) — Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg kicked off the tech giant’s 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. 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. But the shift has been slower than expected.