Facebook buys Oculus for $2B, placing a generational bet on virtual reality and setting the stage for the metaverse push years later.

Ian Goodfellow invents Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs). The paper sparks an explosion in generative AI research that leads directly to modern image synthesis models.

IBM forms a dedicated Watson business unit with a $1B investment. Enterprise-grade AI platforms begin to emerge, targeting healthcare, finance, and customer service.