Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg (pictured) reaffirmed a commitment to the metaverse despite ongoing losses during Q1, a period where cost-cutting measures began to positively impact earnings.

In addition to the metaverse, Zuckerberg stated AI was the main driver behind Meta Platforms’ capex in recent years and will remain so going forward.

“At this point, we are no longer behind in building out our AI infrastructure,” Zuckerberg stated on an earnings call. “And to the contrary, we now have the capacity to do leading work in this space at scale.”

He noted the company’s AI work was driving positive results across its apps and business, with the technology complimentary to its metaverse efforts.

Zuckerberg had previously declared 2023 as “the year of efficiency” which includes laying off 21,000 staff.

CFO Susan Li stated remaining job cuts will be completed by next month, though tempered this by adding Meta Platforms’ staff could increase by 1 per cent to 2 per cent by 2024.

She expects additional staff will be in the focal areas of Reality Labs and generative AI.

The metaverse-focused Reality Labs generated revenue of $339 million compared with $695 million in Q1 2022.

Li predicted the unit would continue to book an operating loss over the rest of 2023, after the figure rose from $2.9 billion to $3.9 billion in the recent period.

Total personnel and severance costs are projected to reach $1 billion this year, with $523 million booked in Q1.

Net profit fell 20 per cent to $5.7 billion on revenue of $28.6 billion, up 3 per cent.