Meta plans to lay off 10 percent of its metaverse group

"Meta plans to take drastic action in its Reality Labs division. According to insiders, the technology company wants to lay off about 10 percent of the employees in this branch. The move is part of a reorientation in which investments in AI are given priority over the development of the metaverse. The plans were reported on by The New York Times."

"The restructuring follows internal pressure to reduce spending by 2026. At the same time, Meta is investing more in artificial intelligence to remain competitive with companies such as OpenAI and Google. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has recently allocated additional resources to experimental AI projects, including an internal lab focused on developing highly advanced AI systems. The construction of large-scale data centers will also consume tens of billions of dollars in the coming years."

"Reality Labs has been a topic of discussion within Meta for some time. Since the acquisition of Oculus in 2014, the division has been at the heart of Zuckerberg's vision of the metaverse, a virtual successor to the current internet. In 2021, the company underscored that ambition with a name change from Facebook to Meta. However, the commercial breakthrough has not materialized. Despite enormous investments, VR headsets have not found a mass market, and returns are lagging behind investors' expectations."

Meta plans to lay off about 10 percent of the roughly 15,000 employees in Reality Labs, focusing cuts on teams developing VR headsets and social virtual reality platforms. The company is reorienting investments toward artificial intelligence and large-scale data centers, prioritizing AI projects and an internal lab for advanced systems. The restructuring follows internal pressure to reduce spending by 2026 and aims to better compete with OpenAI and Google. Reality Labs' AR and wearable teams are expected to remain largely unaffected. VR headsets have not reached a mass market and returns remain below investor expectations.

Read at Techzine Global