At the SIGGRAPH keynote on Monday, the CEOs who are part of the tech industry’s newest bromance ended their conversation about AI (and Zuckerberg’s preferred way of cutting tomatoes) with yet another “jersey swap.”
The outfit swap follows a controversial one in March, when photos posted to social media showed the Meta chief wearing Huang’s iconic black leather jacket and Huang wearing a brown coat that Zuckerberg had worn during a trip to Asia.
This time, Zuckerberg gave Huang a different black leather jacket, but this one had a hood similar to Zuckerberg’s brown coat and was more voluminous.
“Is this me?” Mr. Huang asked, putting on his jacket.
“It’s the vibe,” the Meta CEO replied. Zuckerberg later said he would bring Hwang a gold chain so the two of them could match.
In return, Huang gave Zuckerberg the black leather jacket he had taken off.
“It’s second-hand, so it’s going to be more valuable,” Zuckerberg joked.
While both Huang and Zuckerberg are known for their distinctive styles, Zuckerberg’s fashion changes are as much a business strategy as a personal style expression, the CEO said in a conversation with Huang on Monday.
Zuckerberg, who recently made headlines for his transformation from hoodie-wearing executive to streetwear enthusiast, said he sees fashion as an integral part of Meta’s sales strategy for its augmented reality glasses.
Meta has initiated a partnership with eyewear giant EssilorLuxottica and introduced a partnership with Ray-Ban for AI-powered smart glasses.
Zuckerberg told Huang that the glasses are too thin “to contain all the tech needed for full holographic AR,” but the strategy is to make them stylish enough that people will want to wear them in public.
“The goal there is to limit the form factors to ones that look great,” Zuckerberg said.
The Meta CEO also revealed that he’s trying to become a “style influencer” with his glasses — which is why he wears oversized, plain T-shirts — suggesting that Zuckerberg might shake up his drab style soon.
“If a big part of the future of this business is making stylish glasses that people wear, then I feel like this is something I should pay a little more attention to. So, yes, the version of me that wore the same glasses every day has to be retired.”
After meeting with Hwang, Zuckerberg posted a video of himself trying on a large gold chain given to him by rapper and singer T-Pain, which he played in the background while showcasing Meta’s AI research model, “Segment Anything.” The AI model, released on Monday, allows users to separate objects across multiple video frames.
“The last one wasn’t big enough, so this one is just for atmosphere,” Zuckerberg said, putting on the chain as the song “Buy U a Drank” played in the background.
Nvidia and Meta did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
