Key facts
- Alexandr Wang, Meta's chief AI officer, used memes and eccentric posts to promote the company's AI assistant, Muse.
- Wang stated his social media activity generated buzz and impacted Muse's growth.
- Muse launched on September 8 and became the top app on Apple's store within 10 days.
- Meta's Muse AI assistant can help users with research, online shopping, and connecting to services like calendars and Spotify.
- Wang aimed to make Meta "cool again" through his approach to promoting AI.
Alexandr Wang, Meta's chief AI officer, revealed that his often chaotic and meme-filled social media posts were a deliberate strategy to make the company's new AI assistant, Muse, and Meta itself, more appealing. Wang, 29, admitted that he had trouble focusing during recent Meta meetings, often thinking about new memes to post about Muse.
In a recent interview with podcaster David Senra, Wang explained that his posts, which he described as "somewhat surprised" his coworkers, generated buzz and "actually made an impact on growth." He noted that the internet "rewards risk" and that despite Meta's historically strong products like Instagram and Facebook, the company had lost its "cool" factor.
Muse, launched on September 8, quickly rose to the top of Apple's app store within 10 days, surpassing ChatGPT. The AI assistant is designed to help users with a variety of tasks, including research, filling out forms, online purchases, booking reservations, and connecting with services like email, calendars, Spotify, and Instagram. This success marks Meta's first significant breakthrough in AI technology, following the less impactful Llama and Spark LLM models.
Wang also commented on the energy of younger executives in the AI era, contrasting it with older CEOs like Mark Zuckerberg, 42. He admitted to posting tweets impulsively, saying, "Fuck it, post."