Meta Platforms Inc. today began laying off hundreds of employees, with the company’s Reality Labs virtual reality division hit the hardest.

It’s believed the number of staff who will find themselves without a job could number as many as 700, as Meta bets big on artificial intelligence and winds down its efforts to get its customers into the metaverse.

“Teams across Meta regularly restructure or implement changes to ensure they’re in the best position to achieve their goals,” a Meta spokesman said in a statement. “Where possible, we are finding other opportunities for employees whose positions may be impacted.”

The current round of layoffs follows reports earlier this month that Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg would thin its global staff by as much as 20%. The Reality Labs division already lost about  1,000 to 1,500 of its roughly 15,000 staff at the start of 2026. The division has reportedly seen losses of as much as $70 billion since 2021.

The shift to AI is evident in Meta’s hiring strategy. While hemorrhaging staff, the company has also been hiring leading AI big names to run its Superintelligence lab. That didn’t seem to get off to a good start, with at least three of those hires leaving the company shortly after getting their feet under the table.

The company disclosed in filings this week that several top executives, including finance chief Susan Li, technology head Andrew Bosworth, Chief Product Officer Christopher Cox and Chief Operating Officer Javier Olivan, will receive grants under a new stock option incentive program. The initiative is reportedly designed to help retain senior leadership as Meta continues to pour significant resources into artificial intelligence.

“This is a big bet,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement. “These pay packages will not be realized unless Meta achieves massive future success, benefiting all of our shareholders. As with all stock options, there is only value if the share price meaningfully exceeds the exercise price, and in this case, it must be on an exceedingly aggressive five-year timeline.”

It has been an active week for Meta, and not in a good way. Today, the company lost a landmark case in California over its products being addictive and causing harm to users. This sets the precedent for what will almost certainly become a costly a very costly reality for Meta as more cases are pressed against the company.

In a separate case yesterday, Meta was ordered to pay a $375 million for not protecting children from sexual exploitation on its platforms.

Photo: Wikipedia Commons