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Business Insider
01-05-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Meta's Reality Labs is burning money. Recent layoffs may be the beginning of the end.
Meta reported $4.2 billion in losses from its Reality Labs division this quarter on Wednesday. Its total metaverse burn has now pushed past $60 billion since 2020. Adding to the turmoil, Meta conducted layoffs in its Reality Labs division last week, primarily affecting teams that focused on VR gaming and the Supernatural VR fitness app, which Meta owns. At least one analyst thinks the end is near. "For now, Meta maintains two tales of one company," Forrester vice president and research director Mike Proulx told Business Insider. "Its Family of Apps continues to grow by the metrics that matter. But Reality Labs is a leaky bucket. Year-over-year, that division's revenue is down, and losses are up. I predict come end of this year, Meta will shutter its metaverse projects, like Horizon Worlds." Horizon Worlds, Meta's social VR app in which users interact as avatars in shared digital spaces, was once the company's poster child for the metaverse. However, it has struggled to gain mainstream traction. Over the 2024 holidays, Meta's Horizon app briefly topped app store charts — not because of surging interest in the metaverse, but because it's required to set up a new Quest headset. It signaled that the devices were a popular gift. That momentum didn't stick. On this week's earnings call, Meta said Quest sales underperformed, dragging Reality Labs' revenue down 6% year-over-year. On the call, Evercore analyst Mark Mahaney asked what might finally shrink those multibillion-dollar losses. "There are more investments that I think make sense to make," Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg responded, citing the growth of Meta's AI glasses and a vision to eventually sell tens of millions of units. Internally, the stakes are high. Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth has said 2025 is the "most critical" year for the company's metaverse effort, warning staff that without real traction, the whole thing could go down as a "legendary misadventure." Reality Labs, which includes the Quest headsets, Horizon Worlds, and Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses, is structured into two units: Metaverse and Wearables. In January, Meta quietly reshuffled the division, moving top sales and marketing leads under broader company leadership to align more tightly with its AI push. For now, Meta is still in the fight, though its momentum has clearly moved elsewhere: to its Llama AI models, Meta AI, and those Ray-Bans. The metaverse may not be dead yet, but it's no longer center stage.
30-04-2025
- Business
Meta launches AI app, Zuckerberg chats with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella at developer conference
MENLO PARK, Calif. -- Working to differentiate itself in the crowded field of artificial intelligence, Meta Platforms has launched a standalone AI app — with a social media component — to compete with OpenAI's ChatGPT. The Meta AI app, built with the company's Llama 4 AI system. It includes a 'discover' feed that lets users see how others are interacting with AI. It also has a voice mode for interacting with the AI. 'It's smart for Meta to differentiate its ChatGPT competitor by drawing from the company's social media roots. The app's Discover feed is like a version of the OG Facebook Feed but only focused on AI use cases," said Forrester research director Mike Proulx. By letting users link their Facebook and Instagram accounts, the Meta AI app 'gets a leg up on instantly personalizing its user experience with social media context.' Meta has taken a different approach to AI than many of its rivals, releasing it for free as an open-source product. The company says more than a billion people use its AI products each month. At the Menlo Park, California-based tech giant's inaugural conference, LlamaCon, on Tuesday Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg chatted with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella in a technical discussion around the speed of AI development and how the technology is shifting both their companies — where AI is already writing code — as well as the world. Acknowledging there is a lot of "hype' around AI, Zuckerberg said 'if this is going to lead to massive increases in productivity, that needs to be reflected in major increases in GDP.' 'This is going take some multiple years, many years, to play out,' Zuckerberg said. 'I'm curious how you think, what's your current outlook on what we should be looking for to understand the progress that this is making?' Nadella brought up the advent of electricity, saying that 'AI has the promise, but you now have to sort of really have it deliver the real change in productivity — and that requires software and also management change, right? Because in some sense, people have to work with it differently.' He said it took 50 years before people figured out to change how factories operated with electricity. Zuckerberg replied 'well we're all investing as if it's not going to take 50 years, so I hope it doesn't take 50 years.'
Time of India
30-04-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Meta's Zuckerberg chats with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella at developer conference
Working to differentiate itself in the crowded field of artificial intelligence, Meta Platforms has launched a standalone AI app - with a social media component - to compete with OpenAI's ChatGPT. The Meta AI app, built with the company's Llama 4 AI system. It includes a "discover" feed that lets users see how others are interacting with AI. It also has a voice mode for interacting with the AI. "It's smart for Meta to differentiate its ChatGPT competitor by drawing from the company's social media roots. The app's Discover feed is like a version of the OG Facebook Feed but only focused on AI use cases," said Forrester research director Mike Proulx. By letting users link their Facebook and Instagram accounts, the Meta AI app "gets a leg up on instantly personalising its user experience with social media context." Meta has taken a different approach to AI than many of its rivals, releasing it for free as an open-source product. The company says more than a billion people use its AI products each month. At the Menlo Park, California-based tech giant's inaugural conference, LlamaCon, on Tuesday Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg chatted with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella in a technical discussion around the speed of AI development and how the technology is shifting both their companies - where AI is already writing code - as well as the world. Acknowledging there is a lot of "hype" around AI, Zuckerberg said "if this is going to lead to massive increases in productivity, that needs to be reflected in major increases in GDP." "This is going take some multiple years, many years, to play out," Zuckerberg said. "I'm curious how you think, what's your current outlook on what we should be looking for to understand the progress that this is making?" Nadella brought up the advent of electricity, saying that "AI has the promise, but you now have to sort of really have it deliver the real change in productivity - and that requires software and also management change, right? Because in some sense, people have to work with it differently." He said it took 50 years before people figured out to change how factories operated with electricity. Zuckerberg replied "well we're all investing as if it's not going to take 50 years, so I hope it doesn't take 50 years."
Time of India
30-04-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Meta's Zuckerberg chats with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella at developer conference
Working to differentiate itself in the crowded field of artificial intelligence, Meta Platforms has launched a standalone AI app - with a social media component - to compete with OpenAI's ChatGPT. The Meta AI app , built with the company's Llama 4 AI system . It includes a "discover" feed that lets users see how others are interacting with AI. It also has a voice mode for interacting with the AI. #Pahalgam Terrorist Attack The groundwork before India mounts a strike at Pakistan India considers closing airspace to Pakistani carriers amid rising tensions Cold Start: India's answer to Pakistan's nuclear threats "It's smart for Meta to differentiate its ChatGPT competitor by drawing from the company's social media roots. The app's Discover feed is like a version of the OG Facebook Feed but only focused on AI use cases," said Forrester research director Mike Proulx. By letting users link their Facebook and Instagram accounts, the Meta AI app "gets a leg up on instantly personalising its user experience with social media context." by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like [Click Here] 2025 Top Trending local enterprise accounting software Esseps Learn More Undo Meta has taken a different approach to AI than many of its rivals, releasing it for free as an open-source product. The company says more than a billion people use its AI products each month. At the Menlo Park, California-based tech giant's inaugural conference, LlamaCon, on Tuesday Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg chatted with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella in a technical discussion around the speed of AI development and how the technology is shifting both their companies - where AI is already writing code - as well as the world. Live Events Acknowledging there is a lot of "hype" around AI, Zuckerberg said "if this is going to lead to massive increases in productivity, that needs to be reflected in major increases in GDP." Discover the stories of your interest Blockchain 5 Stories Cyber-safety 7 Stories Fintech 9 Stories E-comm 9 Stories ML 8 Stories Edtech 6 Stories "This is going take some multiple years, many years, to play out," Zuckerberg said. "I'm curious how you think, what's your current outlook on what we should be looking for to understand the progress that this is making?" Nadella brought up the advent of electricity, saying that "AI has the promise, but you now have to sort of really have it deliver the real change in productivity - and that requires software and also management change, right? Because in some sense, people have to work with it differently." He said it took 50 years before people figured out to change how factories operated with electricity. Zuckerberg replied "well we're all investing as if it's not going to take 50 years, so I hope it doesn't take 50 years."
The Hindu
30-04-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Meta launches AI app; Zuckerberg chats with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella at developer event
Working to differentiate itself in the crowded field of artificial intelligence, Meta Platforms has launched a standalone AI app — with a social media component — to compete with OpenAI's ChatGPT. The Meta AI app is built with the company's Llama 4 AI system. It includes a 'discover' feed that lets users see how others are interacting with AI. It also has a voice mode for interacting with the AI. 'It's smart for Meta to differentiate its ChatGPT competitor by drawing from the company's social media roots. The app's Discover feed is like a version of the OG Facebook Feed but only focused on AI use cases," said Forrester research director Mike Proulx. By letting users link their Facebook and Instagram accounts, the Meta AI app 'gets a leg up on instantly personalising its user experience with social media context.' Meta has taken a different approach to AI than many of its rivals, releasing it for free as an open-source product. The company says more than a billion people use its AI products each month. At the Menlo Park, California-based tech giant's inaugural conference, LlamaCon, on Tuesday (April 29, 2025), Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg chatted with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella in a technical discussion around the speed of AI development and how the technology is shifting both their companies — where AI is already writing code — as well as the world. Acknowledging there is a lot of "hype' around AI, Zuckerberg said 'if this is going to lead to massive increases in productivity, that needs to be reflected in major increases in GDP.' 'This is going take some multiple years, many years, to play out,' Zuckerberg said. 'I'm curious how you think, what's your current outlook on what we should be looking for to understand the progress that this is making?' Nadella brought up the advent of electricity, saying that 'AI has the promise, but you now have to sort of really have it deliver the real change in productivity — and that requires software and also management change, right? Because in some sense, people have to work with it differently.' He said it took 50 years before people figured out to change how factories operated with electricity. Zuckerberg replied 'Well, we're all investing as if it's not going to take 50 years, so I hope it doesn't take 50 years.'
