Facebook parent Meta's metaverse project continues to lose billions of dollars

Meta 's Reality Labs – the Facebook parent company’s business and research unit that develops virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) hardware and software – continues to lose billions of dollars. The unit has been reporting billions of dollars in losses every quarter, and the first quarter of 2024 (Q1 2024) is not different – as the department recorded over $3 billion losses.

According to the numbers revealed by Meta in its quarterly results, the Reality Labs division registered a $3.85 billion operating loss – down from $4.65 billion that the company lost in Q4 2023. The metaverse division has now lost more than $45 billion since the end of 2020 and the fourth-quarter loss was its biggest yet.

In the last quarter, the metaverse division brought in $440 million, up about 30% from $339 million a year ago.

“It’s been a good start to the year. We continue making steady progress building the metaverse as well,” said company CEO Mark Zuckerberg in the company’s quarterly earnings release Wednesday (April 24).

Despite heavy investment in Reality Labs, driven by Zuckerberg's belief in the metaverse's future, the division struggles to turn a profit, racking up significant losses.

“In this future, you will be able to teleport instantly as a hologram to be at the office without a commute, at a concert with friends, or in your parents’ living room to catch up. This will open up more opportunity no matter where you live. You’ll be able to spend more time on what matters to you, cut down time in traffic, and reduce your carbon footprint,” Zuckerberg said.

Zuckerberg says it will take time to make money from AI
Meta recently launched Meta AI – a competitor to ChatGPT – across Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Messenger but Zuckerberg said it will take some time to make money from the technology.

“And the initial signs are quite positive here, too. But building the leading AI will also be a larger undertaking than the other experiences we’ve added to our apps, and this is likely going to take several years,” the CEO said.