'Requires lot of work': Microsoft President Brad Smith downplays metaverse 'hype'

Microsoft President Brad Smith has downplayed the metaverse 'hype' and said that it still requires a lot of work.

According to Smith, ''We're all talking about the metaverse as if we're entering some new dimension. This is not like dying and going to heaven. We're all going to be living in the real world with people.''

"I think (the metaverse) will be very big. Everyone is going to be entering this. We have to ensure that it protects privacy, digital safety and protects against disinformation, manipulation. We have a lot to clean up."

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His statement comes a day after Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella unveiled three-dimensional versions in the company's teams app and stepped into the world of metaverse.

Smith highlighted that metaverse needs Big Tech actors like Facebook, Microsoft, Google and Apple would likely each develop their own versions of metaverse.

As Covid lockdown measures and work-from-home policies pushed more people online for both business and pleasure, the concept has surged in popularity during the pandemic.

During an interview he sidelines of Lisbon's Web Summit, he also said that ''Tech is going to have to lean in...with real concrete ideas...even make concessions, so that we can all compromise and build a common platform that better protects people than ... the internet as a whole has in recent past.''

"Government (will) see through that, and it's not going to bode well for the sector...We sort of need to get real."

Mark Zuckerberg renamedFacebook Inc. to Meta Platforms Inc. or Meta for short.

Facebook as 'Meta' in a strategic rebranding move that experts believed was a distraction from its privacy violations.

In a stinging rebuke,whistleblower Frances Haugen had accusedthe company of yet again prioritising expansion over people's safety.

(With inputs from agencies)