> I think I've called it a smoking crater where ten billion dollars used to be.

It’s less of a waste of money if it paints Facebook as a technology leader and distracts lawmakers, and helps give the company mind space among the tech press.

In fact the metaverse may have started out as DC strategy [1].

Facebook Inc. is old and boring, catering to a predominantly older cohort and becoming “Big Social” by buying up anything promising (Instagram, WhatsApp). But Meta Inc. is a scrappy pioneer at the forefront of American tech that’s creating the future™. Be harsh with them at your peril, is the implicit message to lawmakers.

If you look at it as a PR / Corporate defense strategy, a billion is actually cheap.

[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/09/24/faceboo...