Metaverse Silicon Unit to Cut Staff
NEW YORK: Meta plans to lay off workers on Wednesday at a unit of its metaverse-oriented Reality Labs division that focuses on creating custom silicon, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.
The employees were informed about the layoffs on Tuesday on Meta’s internal discussion forum, Työpaikai. The message said they would be notified of their status,, the company early Wednesday morning, one of the sources said.
Meta’s spokesperson refused to comment on the plans. Reuters was unable to determine the extent of the cuts to Facebook’s Agile Silicon Team, or FAST’s silicon unit.
If the cuts are large, they could hamper CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s project to build augmented and virtual reality products that allow access to immersive virtual worlds called “metaverses,” particularly AR glasses, which he has predicted will “redefine our relationship with technology.”
The FAST unit, which employs about 600 people, developed custom chips that equip Meta’s devices to perform unique tasks and operate more efficiently, setting them apart from others entering the emerging AR/VR market.
However, Meta has struggled to produce chips that can compete with silicon produced by third-party suppliers, and has turned to chipmaker Qualcomm to produce chips for its devices currently on the market.
FAST’s restructuring has been expected since the spring, when Meta hired a new manager to lead the unit.
The separate chip manufacturing unit of Meta’s infrastructure division focused on artificial intelligence work has also hit obstacles. The director overseeing those efforts announced his departure last week, though Meta has appointed someone else to take his role and continue those efforts.
Meta currently makes a line of mixed reality headsets called Quest and smart glasses designed with Ray-Ban eyewear maker EssilorLuxottica that can stream video and talk to users via a new AI virtual assistant.
It announced new smart glasses and its consumer Quest headset, the Quest 3, at its annual Connect conference last week.
The company is also working on more technically challenging and less bulky AR glasses that look more like regular glasses, as well as related smartwatches, according to one of the sources.
The first version of the product is scheduled to be completed next year, although Meta initially does not intend to make it widely available to consumers, the source said.
Meta has cut about 21,000 jobs since November of last year as it tried to reassure investors that it was reining in costs amid slowing revenue growth, high inflation and concerns that Reality Labs was losing too much money.
In a statement in March, Zuckerberg said most of this year’s layoffs would take place in the spring, but “in a small number of cases it may take until the end of the year to complete these changes.”
