Meta plans to significantly reduce the number of employees in the Reality Labs division, the unit responsible for developing metaverse-related products. According to sources close to internal discussions, the company is expected to lay off approximately 10% of the staff in this division, against the backdrop of a major strategy shift that favors investment in artificial intelligence, writes nytimes.com.
Reality Labs currently has around 15,000 employees, and the layoff announcement could be made as early as this week. Although the cuts represent only a small part of Meta’s total workforce of approximately 78,000 peopel,the impact will be felt especially by teams involved in the progress of virtual reality headsets and social networks built exclusively in the VR surroundings. One source indicated that the percentage of layoffs could even exceed the 10% threshold.
Andrew Bosworth,meta’s Chief technology Officer and directly responsible for Reality Labs,has called a meeting with employees for Wednesday,requesting their physical presence. In an internal message sent last week, Bosworth described the meeting as “the most important of the year,” without providing further details.
Zuckerberg will invest in the development of an advanced form of artificial intelligence
The decision comes as Mark Zuckerberg, meta’s CEO, asked company leaders last year to reduce budgets for 2026, while directing huge sums to research in the field of artificial intelligence. Meta is facing increasing competition from players such as OpenAI and Google, and Zuckerberg has chosen to accelerate investment in TBD Lab, the internal unit that aims to develop an advanced form of artificial intelligence, described as “superintelligence.”
As the metaverse project nears completion, the company’s direction appears to be redefined. The Reality Labs division, focused on augmented reality – the one developing glasses and bracelets that allow interaction with technology through gestures and voice commands – is expected to largely avoid layoffs.
This unit is also responsible for the Ray-Ban Meta glasses, wich integrate a video camera and a personal AI assistant. The product has proven to be an unexpected success, with over two million units sold in recent years.This is also where the Ray-Ban Display project is located, smart glasses with digital menus integrated into the lenses, controlled by a special bracelet. Their international launch was recently postponed due to limited stock and high demand.
In a discussion with investors in july, Mark Zuckerberg stated that smart glasses will become “the main way in which superintelligence will be integrated into everyday life.”
Okay, I will analyze the provided JavaScript code snippet according to the strict guidelines.
PHASE 1: ADVERSARIAL RESEARCH, FRESHNESS & BREAKING-NEWS CHECK
The code snippet deals with conditional insertion of JavaScript files (adsbygoogle.js) and embedding of something called “IvmEmbed” based on user consent flags (hasGoogleAdvertisingProductsConsent,hasDeviceStorageAndAccessConsent). This is common practice in web development for managing ad display and tracking, and respecting user privacy preferences.
* factual Claims: The code itself doesn’t make explicit factual claims that require autonomous verification. It implies the existence of these consent flags and the functionality of insertAdsByGoogleJs() and insertIvmEmbed(), but these are internal implementation details.
* Contradictory Details: A search for “adsbygoogle.js” reveals it is a script provided by Google Ad Manager for displaying advertisements. The consent checks align with privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA, which require explicit user consent for tracking and advertising.
* Breaking News Check (as of 2026/01/19 06:55:15): As of this date, there are no breaking news events directly related to the functionality of this code snippet. However, privacy regulations are constantly evolving.Recent developments (late 2023/early 2024) include increased scrutiny of data collection practices and the phasing out of third-party cookies by major browsers, which impacts advertising technologies. The FTC’s actions against data collection practices demonstrate ongoing regulatory activity. Google is actively developing Privacy Sandbox initiatives to address these changes. The code’s reliance on consent flags is a direct response to these trends.
* Latest Verified Status: The code snippet represents a common approach to handling advertising and user consent in a privacy-conscious manner. The specific implementation details (function names, consent flag names) are likely specific to a particular website or platform. The broader context of privacy regulations and the advertising technology landscape is actively changing.
PHASE 2: ENTITY-BASED GEO (GENERATIVE ENGINE OPTIMIZATION)
* Primary Entity: Google Advertising Products (specifically, the use of adsbygoogle.js)
* Related Entities:
* General Data protection Regulation (GDPR)
* California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)
* Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) – Industry standards for advertising.
* User Consent Management Platforms (CMPs) – (While not directly in the code, these are crucial for obtaining consent).
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Google Advertising Products and Consent
The code snippet demonstrates conditional loading of Google advertising products, specifically the adsbygoogle.js script, based on user consent related to advertising and data storage.
This practice is essential for complying with privacy regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which require explicit user consent before tracking user behavior or displaying personalized advertisements.The hasGoogleAdvertisingProductsConsent flag indicates whether the user has granted permission for google to use their data for advertising purposes.
Such as, a website using this code woudl first present a consent banner to the user. if the user accepts advertising cookies, the hasGoogleAdvertisingProductsConsent flag would be set to true, and the adsbygoogle.js script would be loaded, enabling ad display. google Ad Manager provides the tools and infrastructure for managing these advertisements.
User Consent and Data Storage
The code also considers hasDeviceStorageAndAccessConsent, indicating whether the user has permitted the website to access device storage. This is often required for tracking and personalization features.
The insertIvmEmbed function is called with a value of 1 if both advertising and storage consent are granted, and 0 otherwise. This suggests that the “IvmEmbed” functionality is dependent on both permissions. The specific
