Recently, a consortium dedicated to the metaverse has been established in Cina, involving prominent companies such as Huawei, Tencent, Ant Group, Baidu, and other important entities in the technology sector. Let’s see all the details below.
China pioneering in the metaverse: creating the virtual future
As anticipated, China has established a working group with the aim of promoting standardization in the metaverse sector. Meanwhile, the world’s second-largest economy is committed to leading the growth of this emerging industry.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) announced on Friday the formation of a working group involving representatives from the government, academia, and businesses.
Among the members of this group are Chinese technology giants such as Huawei, Ant Group, Tencent, Baidu, NetEase, and Sense Time.
The establishment of this task force takes place in the context in which the country aims to establish industrial standards for its metaverse sector.
Last September, the MIIT emphasized, through a published document, that defining basic standards, such as metaverse terminology and reference architecture, could facilitate the achievement of consensus among the various stakeholders.
The MIIT has highlighted that this initiative aims to reduce redundant investment costs and create a collaborative force to promote industrial development in the metaverse sector.
The ministry has also highlighted the current lack of consensus among the academic world, industry, and research sectors on the definition of the metaverse concept.
He also emphasized that excessive speculation, fueled by some investors and companies that exploit the popularity of the metaverse, has distorted the practical meaning of the concept, somewhat hindering the development of the metaverse industry.
Development of NFTs and decentralized applications in the context of blockchain
China expresses its intention to actively promote the development of non-fungible tokens and decentralized applications, consolidating its commitment to blockchain technology, despite the ban on cryptocurrencies.
In December, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) announced its intention to develop strategic documents, clearly outlining the roadmap for the development of Web3.
During the previous year, several local governments have focused on enhancing the metaverse industry.
The province of Sichuan, located in southwestern China and previously known as a hub for cryptocurrency mining before the national ban, announced in August its ambitious goal of growing the metaverse industry.
Specifically, aiming to achieve a market size of 250 billion yuan (equivalent to 35.1 billion dollars) by 2025.
In the same period, the province of Shandong has declared its intentions to expand initiatives related to the metaverse, projecting to reach a market size of 150 billion yuan by 2025.
Even Meta prioritizes artificial intelligence and the metaverse
Meta, the technology company formerly known as Facebook, has officially announced a significant change in its research and development strategy, highlighting artificial intelligence (AI) as a crucial area of interest.
This strategic shift, declared by CEO Mark Zuckerberg through the Threads app connected to Instagram, represents a significant realignment in the company’s vision and resources.
The step marks an important deviation from Meta’s previous approach to the metaverse, the realm of virtual reality that the company had prioritized since its rebranding in 2021.
At the heart of this new strategic direction lies the expansion of Meta’s main artificial intelligence research groups: FAIR (Facebook AI Research) and GenAI.
In the announcement, Zuckerberg outlined the plans to intensify efforts in the creation of technologies of artificial intelligence of “general intelligence”, with significant investments in infrastructure.
In this, the acquisition of approximately 350,000 Nvidia H100 is included, providing a total processing power of about 600,000 H100. This investment emphasizes Meta’s commitment to advancing AI technology.
Despite this shift in focus, Zuckerberg emphasizes that artificial intelligence and the metaverse remain interconnected elements of Meta’s long-term vision.
He envisions a future where artificial intelligence plays a central role in everyday interactions, facilitated by devices like the smart glasses developed in collaboration with Ray-Ban.
This perspective suggests that artificial intelligence will not only enhance virtual experiences in the metaverse, but will seamlessly integrate into everyday life.
