Home / Business and Economy / Meta Shifts Focus: Metaverse Cuts, AI Takes Center Stage
Meta Shifts Focus: Metaverse Cuts, AI Takes Center Stage
13 Jan
Summary
- Meta plans to cut about 10% of Reality Labs employees.
- The company is reallocating funds from VR to AI development.
- Smart glasses sales have exceeded two million units.
- Investors are wary of Meta's significant AI spending.
Meta is undergoing a significant strategic realignment, intending to cut around 10 percent of the employees within its Reality Labs division. This move comes as the company pivots its priorities to heavily invest in next-generation artificial intelligence. The layoffs, potentially announced as soon as Tuesday, will impact those working on virtual reality headsets and the metaverse social network.
This strategic shift signifies a potential scaling back of Mark Zuckerberg's long-term metaverse vision, which has seen billions invested since the acquisition of Oculus in 2014. Despite significant spending on VR hardware, consumer adoption has not met expectations. Concurrently, Meta is increasing its investment in AI research, aiming to develop superintelligence and seeing its augmented reality products, like smart glasses, as key to integrating AI into daily life.
The company is also reallocating funds from virtual reality initiatives to its wearables division, which produces smart glasses and wristband computing devices. These augmented reality products, including the Ray-Ban smart glasses, have shown promising sales, with over two million units sold. Meta views these devices as crucial for integrating advanced AI into consumers' daily routines.
