• by Colin Kirkland , February 14, 2025

After splitting Reality Labs into “Wearables” and “Metaverse” divisionsthis past summer, Meta is further restructuring its virtual reality/augmented reality (VR/AR) hardware department by establishing a new unit focused on developing artificial intelligence (AI)-powered humanoid robots designed to assist with physical household tasks, according to an internal company memo.

In the memo, Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth says that the robotics product group will focus on research and development around “consumer humanoid robots” with a goal of “maximizing” the platform capabilities of Llama, the company's family of automated open-source large language models.

The new division will be led by Marc Whitten, the former CEO of Cruise, a self-driving car company that General Motors spent billions on before it was shuttered this past week.

Investing in the development of AI-powered human-like robots will put Meta in direct competition with other tech companies like Apptronik and Nvidia-backed Figure AI, as well as Tesla, which built a humanoid robot called “Optimus” that, according to CEO Elon Musk, can perform daily tasks.

Meta’s robotics division will target household chores as well as the creation of AI, sensors and software that are able to power robots and can be sold on the open market to companies like Unitree Robotics and Figure AI, which Meta has already been in discussions with.

In its last quarterly report, the Facebook parent company showed signs of hope for its Reality Labs department, which has suffered an operating loss of over $60 billion since 2020.

Although the VR/AR division continues to lose billions, the department exceeded Q4 expectations, generating $1.1 billion in sales -- a 40% year-over-year bump.

By dividing Reality Labs in June, Meta aimed to showcase the success and popularity of its Ray-Ban Smart Glasses, which have taken on new features like live AI chatbot accessibility, with plans for a 3D display.