Asia Tech Wire (July 22) -- Facebook parent company Meta Platforms is drastically cutting back on its metaverse program, according to The Information.

Citing a former manager at Meta's Reality Labs, which is responsible for VR, AR, and the metaverse, the report said that the division's hardware team has been asked to cut spending by nearly 20% from this year through 2026.

Reality Labs made layoffs last year, mainly targeting mid- and senior-level executives.

In late June, Meta laid off more than a dozen top executives at Reality Labs, including Caitlin Kalinowski, the former head of AR glasses hardware, and Steve McClure, the former head of smart glasses hardware.

Meta has invested more than $40 billion in the metaverse, a key project for Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

Zuckerberg has said that Metaverse is a "very long-term bet," but that the company needs to be more efficient and make sure its resources are allocated appropriately.