Alibaba Reduces Metaverse Division Workforce

Alibaba Group Holding is scaling back its metaverse operations, according to SCMP, citing sources.

Dozens of employees from the Yuanjing division, which focuses on digital worlds, have been laid off as part of a restructuring aimed at enhancing organizational efficiency. The cuts have affected the company’s operations in Shanghai and Hangzhou, the publication notes.

Yuanjing will continue to exist, focusing on metaverse applications and tools, as well as providing services to clients in this sector.

The division developed a cloud operating system for using the metaverse in video games and various applications. It was founded in 2021 amid the hype surrounding virtual reality platforms. That same year, Facebook rebranded itself as Meta.

Subsequently, losses from Mark Zuckerberg’s corporation’s extensive initiative exceeded $50 billion. In the third quarter, it reported further financial losses for its Reality Labs division.

In August, Alibaba launched a group of large language models focused on mathematics called Qwen2-Math, which “surpass GPT-4o and Claude 3.5” in this field.