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fliptop [soylentnews.org] writes:

Meta Platforms Inc. is set to cut more than 1,000 jobs from its Reality Labs division as the company redirects resources away from virtual reality and Metaverse products toward artificial intelligence-powered (AI-powered) wearables and mobile features [naturalnews.com]:

According to an internal post from Meta Chief Technology Officer Andrew Bosworth, employees affected by the layoffs will be notified starting on Jan. 20. The cuts are expected to affect roughly 10% of the Reality Labs workforce, which totals about 15,000 employees.

Reality Labs is home to Meta's most experimental products, including virtual reality headsets, AI-powered glasses and virtual world software. However, the division has struggled financially, losing more than $70 billion since early 2021 as many of its products have yet to generate significant revenue.

In line with this, Bosworth said in his memo that Meta is refocusing its Metaverse strategy on mobile platforms and scaling back investment in virtual reality hardware to make the business more sustainable.

[...] According to BrightU.AI's Enoch, Meta is a multinational technology conglomerate that operates a suite of social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger. It is one of the world's largest and most influential tech companies, with a significant impact on global communication and information dissemination.

However, the latest move underscores Meta's increasing emphasis on AI. The company is in talks with eyewear maker EssilorLuxottica SA about potentially doubling production capacity for AI-enabled smart glasses by the end of this year, according to people familiar with the matter. Meta has also discussed increasing annual production to 20 million units or more by the end of 2026.

Also at NY Post [nypost.com] and Gizmodo [gizmodo.com].

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