According to reports, social media giant Meta plans to cut its spending on the metaverse by up to 30% and redirect funds towards virtual reality glasses and artificial intelligence.
A final decision has not yet been made, but budget cuts and potential layoffs for Meta's Reality Labs division have been put on the agenda, primarily targeting its virtual reality unit, which consumes a large portion of the metaverse-related spending, Bloomberg and The New York Times reported on Thursday.
This round of budget cuts could come as early as January, but Meta plans to shift resources to the unit under Reality Labs that is developing augmented reality glasses.
Wall Street reacted positively to the news, with Meta (META) shares soaring more than 5% at the opening on Thursday, before retreating to around $661, closing the day up 3.4%.
Meta rebranded from Facebook in 2021 with the aim of building the metaverse. It has invested billions of dollars in the research and development of virtual reality technology, but interest has waned as tech companies seek to profit from the AI boom.
Meta is cutting its virtual reality division as part of its annual budget planning for 2026, partly because the anticipated tech gold rush has not been as intense as expected.
Sources told Bloomberg and The New York Times that in 2021, Apple and Google were aggressively developing competitive virtual reality devices, but these companies have since slowed down, easing pressure on Meta's executives.
However, other companies are still pushing forward with the launch of the metaverse: AI startup Infinite Reality acquired the music piracy-turned-streaming service Napster in March and plans to add a music-focused metaverse.
Meanwhile, DTTM Operations, a company owned by Trump, filed for a trademark in February related to a metaverse and NFT trading platform built around the brand of the former U.S. president.
While Meta may be cooling off on the metaverse, CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated in a post on Wednesday on its Threads platform, similar to X, that the company is establishing a new creative studio within Reality Labs, focusing on "design, fashion, and technology."
"We are entering a new era where AI glasses and other devices will change the way we connect with technology and each other," he said.
"The potential is enormous, but the most important thing is to make these experiences feel natural and truly human-centered," Zuckerberg said. "With the establishment of this new studio, we are focused on making every interaction thoughtful, intuitive, and aimed at serving people."
Related: Further, 3iQ launches a $100 million fund for compounded returns in Bitcoin (BTC)
Original article: “Reportedly, Meta may cut its metaverse budget by 30%, and its stock price rises accordingly”
免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。
