Zuckerberg slams closed-source AI labs for trying to 'create God'

Silicon Valley loves nothing more than pitching artificial intelligence as the pursuit of digital godhood. Mark Zuckerberg is officially over it.

In an interview published Thursday with creator Kane Sutter, the Meta CEO took a direct swipe at closed-source rivals racing toward a singular, all-powerful system. Zuckerberg argued that those labs act like they are trying to create God, hoarding tech to build one centralized product when real-world culture simply doesn't work that way.

No single AI to rule them all

Zuckerberg pointed out that people do not have just one app on their phones, they do not buy everything from one business, and they do not follow just one creator. In his view, there won't be one true AI either. Instead, there need to be millions of different models reflecting diverse interests and voices.

Meta put that philosophy into practice the same day, launching early U.S. tests of its AI Studio. The tool lets creators build custom AI avatars to reply to messages and chat with followers on Instagram, complete with clear AI disclosure labels.

Of course, the timing carries a hint of sour grapes. The comments come right after reports that Meta approached Apple to integrate its AI into iOS, only to be rebuffed. According to Bloomberg, Apple walked away from formal talks because it did not view Meta's privacy track record as strong enough, leaving OpenAI as Apple's marquee partner.

Life beyond the smartphone glass

Missing out on billions of iPhone home screens means Meta has to accelerate its plan B: hardware that sidesteps smartphones entirely.

Zuckerberg highlighted the momentum behind Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses. Even without a built-in screen, combining cameras, open-ear speakers, microphones, and multimodal AI delivers a solid experience while keeping the price tag around $300, compared to $1,000 for a Meta Quest Pro.

His hardware roadmap spans three phases: display-less audio glasses, heads-up display frames, and eventually full holographic displays. On the input side, Meta is testing neural wristbands that read motor signals traveling from the brain to the fingers, allowing tiny hand gestures to type and navigate.

Zuckerberg cautioned that smartphones won't vanish, but they will be demoted. Just as phones took over tasks once glued to desktop PCs, glasses could become the primary interface for quick photos, messaging, and AI queries, leaving phones tucked away in pockets for intentional tasks.

Why it matters

Zuckerberg's critique sounds like philosophical idealism, but it is ultimately practical survival strategy.

For creators and developers, Meta's distributed vision offers real utility. Tools like AI Studio give influencers automated scale without handing absolute platform control to an external proprietary API provider. Anyone building specialized tools benefits from having widely available weights rather than relying on a single corporate tollbooth.

For the broader industry, Zuckerberg's open-source push is designed to commoditize what OpenAI and Google charge for. Blocked at Apple's gate over lingering privacy concerns, Meta cannot win the distribution race on mobile operating systems it doesn't control. Building an open coalition while pushing sub-$300 wearable hardware is Meta's best shot at rewriting the platform rules.

We think this play is clever, but Meta still faces a steep trust barrier. Calling out competitors for hubris makes for great soundbites, yet convincing mainstream consumers to wear Meta-branded cameras and neural wristbands all day will require proving its data privacy practices really have changed.