Elon Musk Says the Metaverse Sucks and Neuralink Will Be Better – Futurism

In a new interview with conservative satire website The Babylon Bee, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk took a stab at the concept of the Metaverse, the quirky virtual world Facebook-now-known-as-Meta says will supplant our boring two-dimensional screens.

Am I like one of those people who was dismissing the internet [in] 95 as some fad or something thats never going to amount to anything? Musk asked the site.

Sure you can put a TV on your nose, he added derisively. Im not sure that makes you in the metaverse.'

Musk, for one, is certainly not compelled by the idea of strapping a frigging screen to their face all day and not wanting to ever leave.

That seems no way,he said in the interview.

It gets uncomfortable to have this thing strapped to your head the whole time, he added. I think were far from disappearing into the metaverse.

Musk also offered what he sees as a far better alternative: a chip surgically implanted in your brain, courtesy of the brain-computer interface company Neuralink he co-founded.

Long term, a sophisticated Neuralink could put you fully, fully in a virtual reality thing,he said.

Meta, formerly known as Facebook, has made a huge VR push as of late, selling its Metaverse as a more meaningful way of connecting with others via a VR headset. But even the companys own vice president for global affairs and communications Nick Clegg recently admitted the experience is still lacking.

If Im lifting my head, its because Im drinking my coffee and this wretched headset is too bulky for me to drink my coffee without moving my headset, Clegg told the Financial Times in a recent interview.

Musk also took aim at Web3, the concept of democratizing the internet by rebuilding it around the blockchain. He described Web3 in his Babylon Bee interview as more marketing than reality.

I dont get it, he added dismissively. But I dont get ityet, lets put it that way.

But Musk stopped short from condemning the idea of the metaverse or Web3 outright. He argued there is a danger of not being able to see a compelling metaverse situation, comparing his perspective to David Letterman tearing apart the idea of the internet in a 1995 interview with Bill Gates, a video of which he shared earlier this week.

Whether the idea of the Metaverse will eventually take off or die as a fad is anything but certain. Besides, Musk has been wrong before.

While VR technologies have come a long way, theyre still far from mainstream nevermind reaching even close to the number of people Facebooks social media platform can.

But will a surgically implanted brain chip convince enough customers if VR headsets fail? Thats arguably an even bigger stretch.

READ MORE: Elon Musk: metaverse isnt compelling and Web3 more marketing than reality [The Verge]

More on metaverse: Sexual Assault Is Already Happening in the Metaverse

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Elon Musk Says the Metaverse Sucks and Neuralink Will Be Better - Futurism