In October 2021, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed that his social media empire was officially rebranding itself as “Meta” as part of a sweeping company-wide doubling down on virtual reality tech. The company has committed to spending an astronomical $72 billion on AI this year — roughly as much as the company’s lost on the metaverse, coincidentally. The cuts were reportedly born out of the realization that competition in the virtual reality space simply hasn’t taken off as expected. They will also likely be a sight for sore eyes for investors, who have long accused the company’s metaverse of being an extremely expensive distraction and a drain on resources. More on the metaverse: Mark Zuckerberg Allegedly Said Child Safety Was Less Important Than “Building the Metaverse”