Meta, formerly known as Facebook, is set to reduce its Reality Labs team by about 10 percent, with a particular focus on metaverse employees, as disclosed by The New York Times. The restructuring appears to be a consequence of Meta’s intensified focus on AI initiatives, diverting attention from its virtual reality endeavors.
According to The New York Times, Meta’s chief technology officer, Andrew Bosworth, has summoned employees for a crucial in-person meeting to discuss the changes. Bosworth, who oversees the Reality Labs division comprising approximately 15,000 employees, is leading this strategic move. Notably, Meta had previously signaled its intentions, with Bloomberg reporting plans to slash the metaverse budget by 30 percent.
These layoffs within the metaverse team coincide with Meta’s growing emphasis on its Ray-Ban smart glasses, overshadowing its VR hardware offerings. Even without the AI focus, the metaverse concept has faced challenges in gaining widespread adoption, leading to perceptions that the VR social platform is waning in popularity.
Meta has chosen not to provide any comments on the matter at this time.
Source: The Verge