Meta To Reportedly Slash 10% Of Reality Labs Employees, Shifting Focus From Metaverse To Next-Gen AI

As per a report from The New York Times, employees in the Reality Labs business working on metaverse, including virtual reality headsets and a V.R.-based social network, would be affected most.

Meta Platforms Inc. (META) is reportedly planning to lay off about 10% of its workers in the Reality Labs business, including those working on metaverse.

The potential cuts to its Reality Labs business comes as the tech giant shifts its focus to next-generation artificial intelligence, as per a report from The New York Times that cited three people familiar with the matter.

Reality Labs employs about 15,000 people, a small fraction of Meta’s total 78,000 workforce, but the layoffs would disproportionately affect people in the metaverse unit, working on virtual reality headsets and a virtual reality-based social network, according to the report.

This report comes amid Meta’s announcement of a new “top-level initiative” called Meta Compute as well as a new President and Vice Chairman, both focusing on expanding the company’s artificial intelligence infrastructure.

Shares of META are down over 1.69% on Monday at the time of writing. 

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