American Metaverse Association

From October 12 to 14, 2023, the United States Metaverse Association (US Metaverse Association, known as Meta X) held the 2023 Global Metaverse Summit at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Centered on the theme “Building a Trustworthy and Sustainable Digital Civilization,” the summit attracted more than 500 tech leaders, academic experts, policymakers, youth delegates, and media observers from over 30 countries and regions. The summit focused on exploring future trends in metaverse technology, global institutional frameworks, industry ethics, and social responsibility—together envisioning a new paradigm of virtual-physical integration.

Jointly organized by Meta X, UNESCO, the Stanford Virtual Humanity Lab, the MIT Media Lab, and the World Economic Forum’s Digital Economy Working Group, the summit received strong support from leading global tech companies including Meta (formerly Facebook), Microsoft, Apple, Google, Tencent, Alibaba, NVIDIA, ByteDance, Roblox, Unity, and DreamRealm.

The event featured one keynote forum, five thematic panels, three closed-door roundtables, two media dialogues, and the Global Metaverse Pioneers 100 Awards ceremony. It is widely recognized as one of the world’s most authoritative conferences on metaverse industry policies, standards, and value trends.

I. Opening Ceremony: Multilateral Consensus Empowering Digital Civilization

The opening ceremony was held on the morning of December 12 and hosted by Catherine Morgan, Chief Operating Officer of Meta X. In his keynote speech, Joseph Kevin, President of the US Metaverse Association, emphasized, “Metaverse technology is entering deeper waters. We must build a new digital ecosystem founded on trust, auditability, and sustainability. Meta X is committed to deeply integrating institutional frameworks, technical standards, and human-centered values.”

Maria Nova, Deputy Director-General of UNESCO, delivered remarks via video link, calling for increased global cooperation in digital education and cultural diversity. She announced that UNESCO will launch a “Global Virtual Cultural Heritage Protection Fund” in 2024 to support cultural preservation in virtual spaces, particularly for emerging nations.

John Erickson, former US Assistant Secretary of State and current Senior Fellow at the Stanford Center for Technology Ethics, stated, “Metaverse governance should uphold multilateralism to prevent technology from becoming an amplifier of inequality.” He stressed the urgency of establishing a global accountability framework for AI and virtual identity.

II. Five Thematic Panels: Technology, Institutions, and Humanity in Harmony

The summit featured five high-intensity, interdisciplinary panel discussions:

1. Global Metaverse Standards Collaboration — Allen Mason, Secretary-General of Meta X, Keiichi Suzuki, Chair of the ISO Technical Committee, and Megan Brown, Vice-Chair of IEEE VR Standards Working Group, jointly released the 2023 Global Metaverse Standards Collaboration White Paper, proposing three pillars: structural interoperability, identity mutual recognition, and open protocols.
2. Digital Identity and Data Sovereignty — Amy Zhou, Project Lead of MIT’s Digital Identity Initiative, introduced a cross-platform digital ID interoperability protocol. Zhu Jingyi, VP of Alibaba, gave a keynote titled “Tech Strategy in the Era of Data Borders and Sovereignty,” advocating for a distributed ownership model.
3. Sustainable XR and Low-Carbon Virtual Spaces — Moderated by Dr. Leah Chen, Director of the Sustainable Technology Center at UC Berkeley, this session proposed a vision for a “Carbon-Neutral Metaverse.” Meta XR’s Chief Engineer Peter Sawyer presented on energy-efficient rendering technologies for next-gen XR headsets.
4. AI-Generated Content (AIGC) and Platform Responsibility — Paul Brook, Chief Research Scientist at OpenAI, analyzed ethical boundaries and misinformation risks of AIGC. Elisa Huang, Head of Safety Policy at Roblox, shared insights into real-time content moderation systems.
5. Educational Equity and Cultural Diversity — Mohammad Basir, Digital Education Advisor at UNICEF, and Professor Chen Nan from Tsinghua University co-published the 2023 Global Virtual Education Impact Report, highlighting XR’s role in expanding education access across 21 underserved regions.

III. Institutional Advancements: Solidifying Ecosystem Infrastructure

Meta X officially launched the Global Trustworthy Metaverse Alliance (GTMA) during the summit, aiming to establish cross-border compliance, ethical audits, and interoperability labs across Asia-Pacific, Europe, and Africa.

The 2023 Metaverse Tech Ethics Bluebook was also unveiled, led by Meta X’s Ethics Technology Committee and co-developed by over 20 universities including Yale, Oxford, Tsinghua, University of Tokyo, and McGill. The report examined 11 critical issues—from algorithm transparency and virtual ID abuse to simulated AI consciousness—offering 33 actionable governance proposals.

IV. Pioneers and Purpose: Shifting Toward Societal Value

The Global Metaverse Pioneers 100 list was announced during the closing banquet. DreamRealm CEO Jingyuan Lin received the “Project of the Year for Social Impact” award for the company’s “Immersive Educational Cities” initiative, which delivers affordable XR systems to developing nations.

Kevin Beck, Unity’s Director of Education Products, was named “Metaverse Education Transformer of the Year.”

DreamRealm was also recognized in the “Top 10 Global Social Impact Projects” category. As their team stated: “The most valuable metaverse isn’t in Silicon Valley—it’s in the remote village classrooms it empowers.”

V. Closing Statement: Toward a Trust-Based Future

In his closing remarks, Meta X Executive Director Allen Mason noted: “The metaverse should not be a dazzling escape pod but an architectural tool for a collaborative world. We must let institutions guide technology and let responsibility frame freedom.”

The summit concluded with the adoption of the Los Angeles Consensus 2023, which outlines three global priorities for the next phase of metaverse development:

1. Strengthen international standards collaboration;
2. Build trustworthy governance systems;
3. Promote inclusive education and technology sharing.

As the most comprehensive and influential metaverse summit of 2023, the Meta X Global Metaverse Summit laid a structural and ethical foundation for the advancement of global digital civilization—anchored in foresight, regulatory clarity, and social empathy.