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Meta to Cut Reality Labs Chip Unit, Laying Off Hundreds of Employees

  • Meta planning to lay off employees in Reality Labs silicon unit on Wednesday
  • Employees informed of layoffs in internal post on Tuesday
  • Cuts target Facebook Agile Silicon Team (FAST) focused on custom chips
  • FAST has around 600 employees currently
  • Meta struggling to make competitive custom chips, relies on Qualcomm silicon
cnbc.com
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Meta Platforms (META) stock has a strong setup, with two buy points in reach, ahead of this week's Connect conference where the parent company of Facebook and Instagram is set to unveil its new virtual-reality headset, generative AI tools, and more.
A key executive at Meta Platforms, Alexis Black Bjorlin, is leaving her position overseeing the development of AI chips for the company's data centers, while Meta continues its efforts to create its own AI hardware.
Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is expected to benefit from the AI wave and the personal AI assistant category, presenting a potentially large market opportunity for the company through advertising or subscriptions. Despite the continued spending on the Metaverse and the potential for AR/VR devices to be sold at a loss, Meta remains cheap compared to other tech giants, and the stock is poised for growth.
Meta Platforms stock experienced a turnaround as it unveiled new smart glasses with a built-in AI assistant, a virtual-reality headset, and lifelike avatars, further solidifying its position in the digital advertising market and the metaverse.
Meta, formerly known as Facebook, is reportedly planning to lay off employees in its Reality Labs division focused on creating custom silicon, which could pose challenges to CEO Mark Zuckerberg's goal of building augmented and virtual reality products for the "metaverse." The unit, known as Facebook Agile Silicon Team (FAST), has struggled to compete with external chip providers, leading Meta to rely on Qualcomm for chip production. The company recently announced new versions of its smart glasses and Quest headset, and it is also working on sleeker AR glasses and smartwatches.
Meta is gearing up to compete against Apple in the mixed-reality headset market, with employees reportedly feeling the pressure as they enter the "afraid of Apple" stage, while Apple positions its Vision Pro as a productivity and entertainment device with gaming as an added bonus.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg discussed the company's metaverse strategy at the Meta Connect 2023 event, highlighting the importance of AI in their products and partnerships with Qualcomm. The newly announced Quest 3 headset offers improved features but faces challenges due to its higher price compared to its predecessor. Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses have seen improvements and the company is focused on expanding its services and enterprise applications. AI is also a key focus for Meta, with the inclusion of AI assistants and the establishment of an AI Studio for developers. Overall, Meta aims to deliver high-quality hardware and improve user experiences in the XR space.