Meta Shifts Billions, restructures AI and Ad Teams Amidst Hardware Ambitions
MENLO PARK, CA - December 5, 2025 – Meta is undergoing notable restructuring, reallocating $3.25 billion previously earmarked for its metaverse platform, Verse, into artificial intelligence initiatives. Simultaneously, the company is implementing workforce reductions within its advertising teams as it refocuses resources on AI-driven ad solutions. These moves come as Meta continues to invest in Reality labs, its hardware division, recently bolstering its design capabilities with a high-profile hire from Apple.
The financial shift signals a strategic pivot away from the metaverse, which has faced challenges in user adoption and profitability. Meta will redirect the $3.25 billion to bolster its AI infrastructure and progress,aiming to enhance its advertising targeting,content proposal algorithms,and generative AI capabilities. Concurrently, the company is streamlining its ad teams, impacting roles focused on traditional advertising strategies as it prioritizes AI-powered solutions.
This restructuring occurs alongside continued investment in augmented and virtual reality hardware. Meta recently appointed Alan Dye, a twenty-year Apple design veteran who oversaw the design of iOS, watchOS, and hardware products, to lead a new creative studio within Reality Labs. Dye will focus on spatial interfaces, industrial design, and the overall look and feel of forthcoming wearables. The move is viewed as a win for Meta,despite internal rumblings at apple regarding Dye’s departure.
further complicating the landscape, Rocco Basilico, the executive who managed partnerships with Meta and internal development of Ray-Ban-branded smart glasses at EssilorLuxottica, is leaving the company in January amidst restructuring within the eyewear maker. Meta acquired a 5% stake in EssilorLuxottica earlier this year.
