Facebook announced that it would spend a lot on its metaverse division, which it will separate from the larger company.
The tech giant, which announced its third-quarter earnings, said it was bullish on the metaverse. This online space allows people to interact, explore, and make purchases using digital avatars. It is being called “the next generation in online social experiences.”
Facebook Reality Labs, which is the company’s metaverse segment and AI segment, will continue to be reported separately to the company’s family of apps, which includes Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger.
“As we discussed, we are dedicating significant resources toward our augmented or virtual reality products and services which are an important part of our work to create the next generation of online experiences,” stated David Wehner (Facebook’s chief financial officer).
He said, “The new segment disclosures provide additional information about the performance of FRL as well as the investments we make.”
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s famous founder, placed building a new digital reality platform at center of the company’s future plans. “I’m excited by our roadmap, particularly around creators, commerce and helping to create the metaverse,” he said.
This comes as Facebook reports third-quarter earnings of £6.5bn, despite damaging allegations by a former employee.
Frances Haugen (ex-Facebook employee) spoke to UK MPs and peers Monday afternoon for two hours about the company’s inner workings.
This year, the data engineer went public with thousands of pages worth of internal research documents that she secretly copied before leaving her job at the firm’s civic integrity division.
She accused Facebook of prioritizing safety over profits by failing to implement safeguards despite its own research showing that the algorithms of the app harm teens’ mental health and incite hatred. Facebook denied the accusations.
Despite negative press, Mark Zuckerberg repeatedly spoke out about his plans to continue with the creation of a metaverse in recent weeks.
