Meta Scales Back Metaverse Spending as Focus Shifts to AI

Meta is preparing to significantly cut back its spending on the metaverse after years of heavy investment and limited returns, according to media reports. Company insiders told Bloomberg that CEO Mark Zuckerberg plans to reduce the metaverse budget by around 30% next year, redirecting resources toward artificial-intelligence wearables and related technologies.

The move marks a sharp retreat from Zuckerberg’s once-bold vision of virtual worlds populated by millions of users wearing headsets, an idea that drove Facebook’s rebrand to Meta and cost the company an estimated $70 bn over four years. As user interest faded and revenues failed to materialise, the metaverse has featured less prominently in Zuckerberg’s public messaging.

Commentators say the concept struggled to gain traction after the pandemic, when consumers were eager to return to real-world interaction rather than spend money on bulky VR headsets and cartoon-like avatars. Meta is expected to continue developing smart glasses and augmented-reality devices, but its strategic priority has shifted decisively toward competing in the rapidly intensifying race for advanced AI.

Kursiv Uzbekistan also reports that since the beginning of 2025, Uzbekistan has shipped 633 containers to Italy, Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria, Switzerland and other European countries.