Is Mark Zuckerberg's Dream Dead? Meta To Layoff Employees From Metaverse Unit
We noticed a shift at this year's Meta Connect keynote wherein the focus was artificial intelligence (AI) tools and not metaverse. Does this mean that Meta's metaverse ambitions are down the drain?
Meta's so-called "year of efficiency" is costing a lot of employees their jobs. Mark Zuckerberg's company that also heads Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp is planning to lay off more employees in its metaverse-centric Reality Labs division.
We noticed a shift at this year's Meta Connect keynote wherein the focus was artificial intelligence (AI) tools and not metaverse. Does this mean that Meta's metaverse ambitions are down the drain? Only time will tell.
Reuters
Why is Meta laying off employees?
In the meanwhile, employees are facing the brunt of these changes. Many employees were informed of the layoffs in a post on Meta's internal discussion forum Workplace on Tuesday. The post claimed that employees would be informed of their status with the company by early Wednesday morning, a source told Reuters.
Although it's unclear how many employees are being laid off from the silicon unit called Facebook Agile Silicon Team (FAST), it appears that Zuckerberg's plans could be hampered if the layoffs are pronounced.
Also read: Meta Unveils New Ray-Ban Smart Glasses With Fascinating Live-Streaming Features
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Mark Zuckerberg has been pitching immersive virtual worlds known as the "metaverse" as the future of technology. Meta has built supporting augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) tools to enable the construction of these virtual worlds.
Earlier, he said that AR glasses have the potential to "redefine our relationship with technology."
Also read: Mark Zuckerberg's Metaverse Department Has Lost $21.3 Billion Since January 2022
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The FAST unit has 600 employees and works on creating custom chips to help Meta's devices perform unique tasks. Currently, Meta makes mixed reality headsets called Quest and smart glasses designed in collaboration with Ray-Ban.
What do you think about Meta's layoff streak? Let us know in the comments below. For more in the world of technology and science, keep reading Indiatimes.com.
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