It hopes to use artificial intelligence to let people generate virtual worlds by describing them through speech, improve voice assistants, and translate between languages.

Meta's vice president for AI Jérôme Pesenti said the tech isn't far away.

"We are creating tools today to help people generate new worlds, and these tools will be AI assisted so that technology you can see, you know, come into products in the coming years. You know, this is not far off from technology.

Meta recently lost a third of its market value after a dismal earnings report.

Zuckerberg is investing heavily in the metaverse, a futuristic idea of virtual environments and betting it will be the successor to the mobile internet.

He can't say exactly when that'll happen, but for now, he said Meta is investing in AI research that will allow people to have more natural conversations with voice assistants, adding, "As we advance this technology further, you'll be able to create nuanced worlds to explore and share experiences with others, with just your voice."

Zuckerberg also announced work on a universal speech translator and generating a first-person experience within the metaverse.