LOOK HERE: Musk says nobody wants to be the CEO of Twitter
The projection, provided by CTO Andrew Bosworth in a blog post on Monday, is slightly different from the 18% of Meta spend dedicated to Reality Labs in the third quarter. That means most of the company’s investments will continue to go into what Meta calls its own “application family”: Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger.
Meta’s stock is down nearly 65% this year, and some have questioned Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s costly bet on the metaverse, which comes as the company has cut other costs, including widespread layoffs. Reality Labs posted operating losses of $9.4 billion in the first nine months of the year; Meta’s family of apps, by comparison, made $32 billion in profits over the same period.
Bosworth said 2022 was tougher than expected.
“Economic challenges around the world, coupled with pressures on Meta’s core business, have created a perfect storm of skepticism about the investments we’re making.”he said. However, he added, withdrawing from future bets to focus only on short-term goals could have “disastrous consequences”.
A 20% investment in futuristic technologies is a “level of investment that we believe makes sense for a company committed to staying at the forefront of one of the most competitive and innovative sectors in the world”, She said.