What Comes After Mobile? Meta’s Andrew Bosworth on AI and Consumer Tech

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Apr 24, 2025

Andrew Bosworth, CTO of Meta, explores the future of consumer technology after decades dominated by smartphones. He discusses how AI and immersive experiences could create a post-mobile world, transforming user interactions into intent-driven experiences. Bosworth highlights innovations like AI-integrated Ray-Ban glasses and the challenges in adapting to this new landscape. He also addresses the role of open-source AI in encouraging innovation and the importance of navigating the risks associated with these technological advancements.

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INSIGHT

New Content Surfaces Beyond Phones

AR glasses and immersive displays will broaden content delivery beyond phones over the next decade.
Early devices will be uneven: some high-end, some lightweight always-on options for quick moments.

ADVICE

Start From The Problem, Not The Tech

Immerse in the user's actual problem before choosing technologies to solve it.
Avoid building for technology's sake and be honest about which tools truly help users.

INSIGHT

AI Is A Broad Tailwind For Interfaces

AI feels broad and applicable across many interfaces, unlike past domain-specific breakthroughs.
That breadth creates a rare tailwind for rethinking how people interact with computers.

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For the past 20 years, consumer technology has been shaped by the same form factors: apps and touchscreens on smartphones. But advances in AI, wearables, and hardware could introduce an entirely new stack—creating a more agentic, adaptive, and immersive computing experience for users everywhere.

Drawing on his early days building Facebook’s News Feed to his work today on smart glasses and AR headsets, Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth joins a16z Growth General Partner David George to share how he's translated emerging technologies into products people use and love. He also explores how breakthroughs in AI and hardware could turn the existing app model on its head, introduce entirely new competitive dynamics and business models for startups, and usher in a post-mobile phone era. If we get it right, Bosworth says, the next wave of consumer tech won’t run on taps and swipes—it’ll run on intent.

Read more, including a full transcript, here: a16z.com/after-mobile-consumer-tech-andrew-bosworth

[00:00:00] The future of content consumption
[00:02:18] Building great products on the backs of tech trends
[00:08:24] The evolution of Reality Labs and imagining a post-mobile world
[00:11:36] Building a bridge to the post-mobile era
[00:15:00] Does AI turn the app model on its head?
[00:21:28] Competing on performance and price in the AI era
[00:24:27] Open source, Llama, and commoditizing your complements
[00:27:49] Risks to the post-mobile vision
[00:32:41] Committing to the vision

In our conversation series AI Revolution, we ask industry leaders how they’re harnessing the power of generative AI and steering their companies through the next platform shift. Find more content from our AI Revolution series on www.a16z.com/AIRevolution

Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment, digital asset, or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.