AI Is Taking Jobs: Meta Confirms Major Layoffs in Reality Labs

New Delhi: Meta has confirmed fresh layoffs in its Reality Labs division, a move that signals how quickly the company’s grand metaverse experiment is giving way to the hard realities of artificial intelligence. Once the crown jewel of Mark Zuckerberg’s vision for digital worlds, Reality Labs is now shrinking as Meta reorients its future around AI-powered devices and mobile features.

In an internal memo, Chief Technology Officer Andrew Bosworth told employees that job notifications would begin on January 13, 2026. He framed the decision as a necessary step to make the business more sustainable after years of heavy spending on virtual reality projects that never quite broke into the mainstream.

Reality Labs was built to pioneer VR headsets and immersive platforms, but the division has been bleeding billions. For Meta’s leadership, the calculation has shifted: AI wearables and phone-based features promise faster adoption and clearer returns. The metaverse isn’t being abandoned, but it is being pushed to the sidelines, with investment continuing at a slower, more cautious pace.

This pivot reflects a broader mood across Silicon Valley. The metaverse hype has cooled, while artificial intelligence has become the new battleground. Apple, Google, and Microsoft are already racing ahead with AI hardware, and Meta’s restructuring is its attempt to catch up.

The risks are obvious. Cutting a large slice of a division can sap morale and stall innovation. Investors may applaud the cost savings but wonder if Meta is retreating too quickly from its boldest idea. Yet the company appears convinced that AI-powered consumer devices are the more immediate path to relevance and growth.

And there is a bigger story here: AI is not just creating new opportunities; it is also displacing workers. Meta’s latest cuts add to a string of layoffs over the past year, which together amount to tens of thousands of jobs lost across the company. For employees, it is a painful reminder that the same technology driving the future is also rewriting the present and not always in their favour.

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