Meta Reportedly Cutting 10% of Reality Labs Workforce
â–¼ Summary
– Meta is laying off 10% of staff in its Reality Labs division, impacting over 1,000 people involved in VR and metaverse development.
– The company is also shutting down several game studios and a technical unit, Oculus Studios Central Technology, that were working on VR titles.
– The layoffs will not affect teams working on augmented reality, as Meta plans to redirect the saved funds toward AR development like glasses and controllers.
– Meta is shifting its strategic focus and resources from the metaverse toward artificial intelligence (AI) development.
– This shift is evidenced by organizational changes, including moving metaverse executives to AI roles and aggressively recruiting AI researchers from other labs.
Meta is reportedly reducing its workforce within the Reality Labs division, a move impacting approximately 10% of the unit’s employees. This division is central to the company’s virtual reality and broader metaverse initiatives. According to reports, with an estimated 15,000 people in Reality Labs, these cuts could affect well over a thousand staff members. The restructuring signals a strategic shift as the company navigates its ambitious technological investments.
Further details indicate the closure of several development studios, including Armature Studio, Twisted Pixel, and Sanzaru. A technical group known as Oculus Studios Central Technology, which focused on creating VR titles, is also slated to be shut down. Internally, Andrew Bosworth, the Chief Technology Officer and head of Reality Labs, has scheduled what is being described as a critically important in-person meeting for mid-January, underscoring the significance of these organizational changes.
Notably, these layoffs are said to exclude teams working on augmented reality projects. Meta maintains significant ambitions for AR, including the development of advanced glasses and controllers. The financial resources conserved from the workforce reduction are reportedly being redirected to accelerate progress in augmented reality development.
This realignment occurs as Meta continues to heavily invest in artificial intelligence. The company, which rebranded in 2021 to emphasize its metaverse vision, is now channeling considerable effort into AI. Last year, it established a new Superintelligence Lab and recruited top talent like Alexandr Wang from Scale AI. In a related move last October, Vishal Shah, previously overseeing metaverse efforts, was transitioned to a vice president role managing AI products. The firm has also been actively offering competitive compensation packages to attract leading researchers from other organizations to join its AI teams.
(Source: TechCrunch)
