'Soul crushing': Mark Zuckerberg slams Apple's 'closed ecosystem' as Meta unveils new AI models

Mark Zuckerberg isn't holding back his frustration with Apple's tight grip on its ecosystem. In a blog post announcing the release of Meta's latest Llama AI models, the Facebook co-founder took direct aim at Apple's restrictive policies, arguing that they stifle innovation and limit consumer choice.

"One of my formative experiences has been building our services constrained by what Apple will let us build on their platforms," Zuckerberg wrote. "Between the way they tax developers, the arbitrary rules they apply, and all the product innovations they block from shipping, it's clear that Meta and many other companies would be freed up to build much better services for people if we could build the best versions of our products and competitors were not able to constrain what we could build."

This isn't the first time Zuckerberg has criticised Apple's "walled garden" approach. In 2021, Meta took a significant financial hit when Apple introduced its App Tracking Transparency feature, which required users to opt-in to data tracking for targeted advertising.

"I think it's a little bit soul-crushing when you go build features that are what you believe is good for your community, and then you're told that you can't ship them because some company wants to put you in a box," Zuckerberg stated in a recent interview with YouTuber Rowan Cheung.

Zuckerberg's latest comments come as Meta ramps up its investments in both the metaverse and artificial intelligence. The company is developing its own AI models and software to power its AR and VR hardware, including its popular Quest VR headsets.

He believes that open ecosystems are crucial for fostering innovation in AI and the metaverse, contrasting Apple's approach with the more open model of the PC industry.

"Compared to the Apple approach of coupling your operating system with the device, the Windows approach was a more open ecosystem," Zuckerberg noted. "And it won."

While acknowledging Apple's success with its tightly controlled ecosystem, Zuckerberg is betting on a future where open platforms prevail. He envisions a world where developers have greater freedom to build and users have more choice, with Meta playing a leading role in shaping this future.

"That's something that I just personally and philosophically care about," Zuckerberg affirmed. "Given the kind of limits on creativity that I've felt have sort of been applied to our industry by the closed model of mobile development."