Meta will lay off 10% of its staff in its Reality Labs division, which is central to the development of its VR and Metaverse products, The New York Times reported.
The magazine noted that Reality Labs employs about 15,000 people, and the layoffs could affect more than 1,000 people.
Separately, CNBC reported that the company plans to shut down studios like Armature Studio, Twisted Pixel, and Sanzaru, as well as a technology division called Oculus Studios Central Technology that developed VR titles. Business Insider reported that Andrew Bosworth, the company’s CTO and director of Reality Labs, called for the “most important” in-person meeting of the year to be held on January 14th.
The NYT reported that the layoffs will not affect those working on augmented reality, as the company has big ambitions for developing glasses and controllers. The report also states that the funds saved from these cuts will be used for AR development.
The news comes as Meta, which rebranded entirely to focus on the Metaverse in 2021, is pouring resources into AI development. In October, the company moved Metaverse head Vishal Shah to vice president to oversee AI products, and last year it poached Alexander Wang from Scale AI and reorganized to create a superintelligence lab. The company continued to offer the best packages to researchers working in other labs, inviting them to join Meta.
Mehta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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