Media: Meta to cut metaverse funding by 30% - ForkLog: cryptocurrencies, AI, singularity, future

# Media: Meta to Cut Metaverse Funding by 30%

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg plans to significantly cut funding for the metaverse division, which he previously called the future of the company and the reason for Facebook’s rebranding. Bloomberg reports this, citing sources.

According to the agency, the company’s management may cut the Reality Labs division’s budget by 30%. This division is responsible for developing the metaverse, including the Horizon Worlds platform and the Quest VR headset line.

Such a significant budget cut will lead to layoffs, though a final decision has not yet been made, Bloomberg noted.

Investors reacted positively to the news.

Meta shares rose after the announcement of the metaverse division’s spending cuts. Source: Yahoo Finance. Last month, Zuckerberg held a series of meetings in Hawaii dedicated to budget planning for 2026. The CEO ordered all divisions to cut costs by 10%, calling it a standard optimization measure.

The group working on the metaverse was asked to cut their budget more deeply since the company “did not face the expected competition.” Since the initiative was launched in 2021, cumulative losses for the division have exceeded $70 billion.

Zuckerberg has stopped mentioning the metaverse during company earnings calls, focusing instead on artificial intelligence and hardware solutions like Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses.

New Support Center

Meta has increased its focus on customer support, launching a centralized help center for Facebook and Instagram users.

The company admitted that previous solutions “did not always meet expectations.”

The new platform offers tools for reporting issues and restoring account access. Users can also get answers through AI-powered search.

The new feature is available in iOS and Android apps for users worldwide.

The new AI assistant is designed to provide more personalized help. The company emphasized that the technology has improved account security and reduced hacks by more than 30%.

Source: Meta. AI is used to fight phishing and detect suspicious logins. It also helps avoid erroneous account deactivations and speeds up the appeals process.

However, thousands of users express a different opinion. Many complain that they lost access to their accounts due to errors on Meta’s side, linking incidents to algorithm malfunctions.

Since the blocks affect businesses, affected parties are threatening lawsuits. The situation has escalated to the point that a Reddit community has been created to coordinate lawsuits against the company.

Meta believes the new support center will improve the situation through a centralized and optimized access recovery process. The system will send more accurate notifications about suspicious activity and better recognize account owners’ devices.

Problems in Europe

Meta has faced legal challenges in the EU.

The European Commission has launched an antitrust investigation over the exclusive integration of the Meta AI chatbot into WhatsApp.

In October, the company changed its business API policy, banning the use of general-purpose chatbots in the app. The changes take effect in January but will not affect customer support tools.

“As a result of the new policy, competing AI providers may lose the ability to reach their customers through WhatsApp,” the regulator’s notice says.

Recall that in September, the US Federal Trade Commission announced an investigation into seven tech companies releasing chatbots for minors: Alphabet, Character.AI, Instagram, Meta, OpenAI, Snap, and xAI.