Meta has begun cutting more than 1,000 jobs from its Reality Labs division, signaling a major pivot away from its costly metaverse ambitions. CTO Andrew Bosworth informed staff that the company will now prioritize developing AI-powered wearables, like its popular Ray-Ban smart glasses, over virtual reality hardware. This shift follows years of massive spending with little return; Reality Labs has burned through over $70 billion since 2021.

While Mark Zuckerberg’s 2021 rebranding from Facebook to Meta centered on building a dominant virtual world, that vision has largely failed to materialize with consumers. Bosworth’s memo stated the company is moving resources "almost exclusively to mobile" to chase a larger, faster-growing user base. For now, Meta isn’t abandoning VR entirely.

The remaining headset teams will operate as a "leaner" organization with a more focused roadmap, though consumers shouldn't expect a new Quest 3 successor anytime soon. The company is clearly betting its future on hardware you can actually wear outside.