According to a recent report, Microsoft has dissolved its Industrial Metaverse Core team, which it formed four months ago to assist customers in using the metaverse for industrial purposes.
Why Microsoft made the decision
The team, which consisted of about 100 employees, was primarily composed of a group known internally as Project Bonsai. According to a source with direct knowledge of the matter, Microsoft’s layoff of 10,000 employees, or about 4.5% of its workforce, resulted in the team’s demise.
The unit’s mission was to allow humans to engage with physical items, assets, locations, processes, and equipment using artificial intelligence and digital technology.
They constructed the components that industrial customers might utilize by working with clients in various sectors such as healthcare, retail financial services, energy, and other industries. In the realm of the industrial metaverse, some of the most important clients for Microsoft were Mercedes-Benz and Coca-Cola.
Microsoft has issued a statement in response to this news, stating that the company is still dedicated to the industrial metaverse and that the layoff would not change the way in which clients are served.
Microsoft remains committed to the industrial metaverse. We are applying our focus to the areas of the industrial metaverse that matter most to our customers and they will see no change in how they are supported. We look forward to sharing additional information in the future.
Microsoft
The business, however, has terminated the employment of people who were working on additional mixed reality products, such as the AltspaceVR meeting solution and the whole team that was constructing its Mixed Reality Toolkit.
The reason behind the layoffs
The CEO of Microsoft, Satya Nadella, made the announcement of layoffs earlier this month. The reasons for the layoffs have been mentioned as being macroeconomic uncertainties as well as decreasing growth.
The metaverse is an online community that exists in three-dimensional space and allows users to interact with computer-generated avatars and items.
Residents of Florida have shown the most interest in investigating the metaverse, which is one of the reasons why the notion has acquired substantial popularity in some regions of the United States.
Despite the fact that Microsoft has disbanded the Industrial Metaverse Core team, the business has not abandoned its dedication to the metaverse.
The move is a component of a bigger plan to trim the workforce by a total of 10,000 people, which has been linked to the uncertain state of the macroeconomic environment and the decelerating rate of growth.
Major technology businesses, including Microsoft and Meta Platforms, have shown interest in the metaverse as a potential market for their products. However, the idea is just in its preliminary phases at this point, and it is not yet clear how it will evolve in the future.
Microsoft has previously provided guarantees that it is dedicated to continuing developing mixed reality technologies, including the HoloLens 2 headgear and Microsoft Mesh. These products combine augmented and virtual reality elements.
