When the AI prioritizes the meta to cut 10% of the Metaverse Unit
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Meta is preparing to cut roughly 10% of its workforce from its Meta opposites-focused division, a move that highlights the company's shift into artificial intelligence.
Key Takeaways:
Meta Investments plans to cut 10% of its Reality Labs workforce as it transitions from flexibility to AI.
The move follows years of heavy losses at Realty Labs and lower-than-expected user adoption.
Gaming-centric worlds dominate engagement, while blockchain and corporate metaverses continue to fight for consumers.
A report from the New York Times, citing people familiar with the matter, said the reduction could be announced on Tuesday.
The cuts are expected to hit Reality Labs, which is responsible for the meta-virtual and virtual reality aspirations.
Meta's Reality Labs Faces 1,500 Job Cuts in Metaverse Pullback
Reality Labs employs about 15,000 people and manages hardware such as VR headsets along with virtual platforms, including Horizon Worlds and Horizon Workrooms.
A reduction of about 10% would affect 1,500 workers. Meta declined to comment on the report.
The move follows a series of budget adjustments that demonstrate Metaverse's commitment to Metaverse as it doubles down on AI.
In early December, the company's shares rose after reports suggested that Meta was considering cutting up to 30% of its variable costs and shifting its resources to AI development.
The latest report also said Meta plans to shift some funding from Reality Labs to its wearables business, smart glasses and wristband devices like the Meta Neural Band.
Meta, formerly Facebook, rebranded in October 2021 with high-profile bets on virtual worlds, VR and augmented reality.
That pivot came as Metaverse projects gained popularity in tech and crypto, but user adoption struggled to meet early expectations.
In the year Since Reality Labs launched in August 2020, the unit has accumulated more than $70 billion in losses.
In its third quarter 2025 Meta earnings report, Reality Labs posted losses of $4.4 billion.
The broader Metaverse market has also seen robust participation. Gaming-focused platforms like Roblox and Fortnite remain dominant, each attracting hundreds of millions of users.
Outside the ecosystem, activity levels are very low. Blockchain-based virtual worlds have seen particularly limited traction, with Sandbox recording 776 unique wallet activations in the past 30 days, according to Dapradar data.
Some reports also suggest that Meta Horizon Worlds attracts no less than 900 daily active users.
In June of last year, Meta Investors announced a proposal that would push the company to add bitcoin to its balance sheet on May 28, 2008.
The measure received only 3.92 million votes in support, about 0.08% of the total vote, while nearly 5 billion voted against it.
With CEO Mark Zuckerberg controlling 61% of the vote, the outcome was virtually foregone.
The proposal comes from Bitcoin activist Ethan Peck, who argues that Meta should allocate part of its $72 billion cash pile in BTC to prevent inflation and lower real returns on cash and bonds.
Peck made the suggestion on behalf of his family's meta holdings, citing BlackRock's guidelines in favor of small bitcoin allocations.
He serves as Bitcoin director at Strive and has pushed similar campaigns at other tech giants.
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