Meta Confirms 'Shifting Some' Funding 'From Metaverse Toward AI Glasses'

Meta has officially confirmed it is shifting investment away from the metaverse and VR toward AI-powered smart glasses, following a Bloomberg report of an up to 30% budget cut for Reality Labs. 'Within our overall Reality Labs portfolio we are shifting some of our investment from Metaverse toward AI glasses and Wearables given the momentum there,' a statement from Meta reads. 'We aren't planning any broader changes than that.' From the report: Following Bloomberg's report, other mainstream news outlets including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Business Insider have published their own reports corroborating the general claim, with slightly differing details...

Business Insider's report suggests that the cuts will primarily hit Horizon Worlds, and that employees are facing 'uncertainty' about whether this will involve layoffs. One likely cut BI's report mentions is the funding for third-party studios to build Horizon Worlds content. The New York Times report, on the other hand, seems more definitive in stating that these cuts will come via layoffs. The Reality Labs division 'has racked up more than $70 billion in losses since 2021,' notes Fortune in their reporting, 'burning through cash on blocky virtual environments, glitchy avatars, expensive headsets, and a user base of approximately 38 people as of 2022.'

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