Meta, LG partnering to ‘expedite’ extended reality ventures

Meta is partnering with LG Electronics to “expedite” the social media company’s plans for extended reality (XR) and to promote other artificial intelligence (AI) ambitions.

LG announced its top management met with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in Seoul, South Korea, on Wednesday, where they discussed the next generation of XR “device developments.”

The electronics company, headquartered in South Korea, said the partnership aims to “combine the strengths of both companies across products, content, services and platforms” to innovate in the “burgeoning virtual space” of XR.

According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, XR is technology that includes augmented, mixed and virtual reality to combine the real and digital worlds for interaction and perception.

After experiencing Meta products including the Meta Quest 3 virtual reality headset and its Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, LG CEO William Cho “expressed a keen interest” in the company’s tech advancements.

“LG envisions that by bringing together Meta’s platform with its own content/service capabilities from its TV business, a distinctive ecosystem can be forged in the XR domain,” the company said in its release.

The technology company signaled the XR will be the next generation of personal devices and will surpass the capabilities current devices have now. Wearable devices will also “substantially broaden customer interactions,” LG said.

Zuckerberg met with the LG executives on the second leg of his three-nation Asian tour that observers say is dedicated to discussing partnerships.

He has already visited Japan and will travel to India in the coming days, The Associated Press reported.

A technology analyst told the AP that Zuckerberg likely also spoke with Samsung Electronics about producing Meta-exclusive chips, so the company can ease its reliance on the company Nvidia, who is dominant in the AI chip market, per AP.