KUALA LUMPUR – Tech giant Meta, which owns Facebook, is planning to produce its virtual reality headsets, the Quest 3S, in Vietnam starting in 2025, offering new job opportunities to locals. This announcement follows a meeting that also addressed topics such as censorship and artificial intelligence.
Meta’s move will create 1,000 jobs, the company stated yesterday, adding another major electronics contract to Vietnam’s supply chain – which already manufactures Apple iPads and Dell laptops. Furthermore, Meta is assisting in the creation of an AI course at a Vietnamese university, Nikkei Asia reported.
Meta also plans to test its virtual assistant, Meta AI, in Vietnamese and will introduce Business AI for Messenger in the coming months.
Facebook faces challenges maintaining free speech in the one-party state, where it serves as a popular e-commerce platform and has 75 million users, making it the company’s seventh-largest market globally, according to data from We Are Social, DataReportal, Facebook, and Meltwater.
Meta’s government meeting highlights Vietnam’s shift towards hardware manufacturing, as more companies relocate factories from China. It also underscores Facebook’s interests in the country, with Meta’s president of global affairs Nick Clegg meeting Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in Hanoi just days after discussions with Communist Party chief To Lam in New York.
The Vietnamese government said on Monday that Chinh asked Meta, which owns Instagram and WhatsApp, to “strengthen coordination with Vietnamese authorities to block bad, toxic or false information,” prevent fraud, and comply with the law.
While critics argue that Facebook complies too often with takedown orders, Meta claims that Vietnam has pressured it by slowing down its servers. The company declined to comment on its censorship policy when approached by Nikkei Asia.
In 2016, Vietnam’s military established Force 47, an information warfare unit tasked with posting on pro-state Facebook groups to counteract “wrong views” on social media.
Meta announced that it will support an AI literacy course for credit, starting in March at Hanoi’s University of Social Sciences and Humanities.
Clegg remarked, “By unlocking growth opportunities and delivering innovative products, Meta aims to contribute to the country’s economic prosperity.”
Facebook rebranded as Meta in 2021 to focus on the metaverse, a concept involving social interaction in virtual worlds using devices like VR headsets. The Quest 3S, released in September for $300, offers a cheaper alternative to high-end VR devices, which can cost thousands. Manufacturing in Vietnam could help the company reduce production costs.
The Quest 3S is a VR and mixed-reality headset which enables users to immerse themselves in virtual environments, play games, watch films, and interact with 3D content. The headset also allows users to blend digital elements with the real world through its built-in cameras.
Additionally, Meta is also developing AI-powered glasses, as it moves towards producing more hardware, especially after being impacted by Apple’s restrictions on iPhone ads for apps like Facebook.
“If all we get is for everyone who already wears glasses to upgrade to AI-enhanced glasses, this will already be one of the most successful products in history,” said CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a recent interview on a podcast. – October 2, 2024