Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg seemed to be reconsidering shaving after an edited image of his mug with facial hair went viral.
The swooning started after Zuckerberg posted a video announcing his company's release of a new version of Meta AI with the goal of building "the world's leading AI."
He said in his video post:
"We're upgrading Meta AI with our new state-of-the-art Llama 3 AI model, which we're open sourcing."
"With this new model, we believe Meta AI is now the most intelligent AI assistant that you can freely use."
"We're making Meta AI easier to use by integrating it into the search boxes at the top of WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger. We also built a website, meta.ai, for you to use on web."
In the video, he appeared as the public is familiar with him: clean-shaven with boy-next-door energy.
Game designer Mike Rundle digitally fiddled with a screenshot from Zuckerberg's video by adding a mustache, beard, and a fake tan to boot.
Rundle then posted the results on X (formerly Twitter) and captioned it with:
"Me: Bearded Zuck you have to stop. Your smoked meat's too tough. Your swag too different. Your open source LLM is too bad. they'll kill you."
"Bearded Zuck:"
Here's a closer look at Zuckerberg 2-point-Oh, yes.
@flyosity/X
Social media users were convinced the photo was real.
They drew comparisons of Zuckerberg with other high-profile individuals.
People generally liked the look.
Users continued commenting on the hirsute phenomenon.
When Zuckerberg became privy to favorable reviews of his scruffy mug, he commented on the viral post with:
"Okay who did this?"
You can spot his inquiry in the comments section to the right of the screen capture here.
Rundle also shared a screen snap of Zuckerberg's Instagram story featuring his Gillette razor with a thinking emoji, suggesting he was contemplating going on a shaving hiatus.
@flyosity/X
Rundle shared the snaps on X and commented:
"Love that Zuck went from wondering who made the beard edit to contemplating not shaving anymore in just a few hours."
"It’s happening!"
It's very plausible the tech giant could achieve sex symbol status.
Let's not forget the time last summer when he was seen with his shirt off and looking beefed up and toned during a gym session.
An Instagram photo of him with UFC champions Israel Adesanya and Alex Volkanovski was presumably taken during training for his cage fight to settle a score with his nemesis, Elon Musk.
Zuckerberg’s wife, Priscilla Chan, responded to the bearded mania and asked on her Instagram stories:
"Anyone seen my husband??? And who is this guy?"
@GregAbbott_TX/X
