As a seasoned researcher with over two decades of experience in the tech industry, I’ve witnessed the rise and fall of numerous trends, from dot-com bubbles to AI winter and back again. The recent downsizing of metaverse operations by Alibaba and other tech giants is yet another example of this cyclical pattern in the tech world.
It appears that Alibaba, a prominent Chinese e-commerce company, is rumored to be shrinking its involvement in the metaverse, following other tech titans who’ve decreased investments in this field, which was previously considered high-profile.
Approximately 50 employees from Alibaba’s metaverse department were let go as part of a corporate reorganization aimed at enhancing efficiency, as reported by the South China Morning Post, a newspaper owned by Alibaba Group.
Alibaba established its Yuanjing metaverse division, which operates in both Shanghai and Hangzhou, during the surge of interest in virtual world platforms and associated technology, back in 2021.
The excitement surrounding the former bustling industry has significantly decreased, as artificial intelligence has emerged as the new cutting-edge technology in the tech world, capturing the attention and investments of companies striving to stay competitive.
The company, said to have received billions in investment and once employing several hundred individuals, is set to persist, offering solutions for the metaverse, tools, and related services according to recent reports.
In March 2022, Alibaba took the lead in investing $60 million in the Chinese company that produces augmented reality glasses, Nreal, as a part of their goals to develop the virtual world, commonly known as the metaverse.
Additionally, significant Chinese technology giants like Tencent, ByteDance, and Baidu were equally enthusiastic about the prospects of the metaverse market. They all hurriedly filed for trademarks during that period.
As a crypto investor, I’ve noticed a recent shift in strategic direction among major tech companies, and I’m adjusting my investment strategy accordingly. Instead of pouring resources into the metaverse, these companies seem to be steering towards Artificial Intelligence (AI) development – a trend that appears to be sweeping across the industry as a whole.
As a researcher, I find myself sharing news from May 2023 – the head of Metaverse Operations at Baidu, the renowned Chinese search engine company, decided to part ways with the organization. This move came about as Baidu shifted its focus towards the advancement of Generative Artificial Intelligence.
As an analyst,
Furthermore, Reality Labs reported a loss in operation amounting to $4.4 billion during the third quarter, and since 2020, this division has incurred losses exceeding $58 billion.
In February 2023, tech titan Microsoft disbanded their Industrial Metaverse Core group, and it’s said that approximately 100 staff members who were part of this initiative were let go.
In March 2023, Disney made significant changes by discontinuing its metaverse department and reducing staff as part of a broader corporate overhaul.
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2024-11-04 07:57