The virtual reality center is the most affected by the layoffs Microsoft

Microsoft will lay off more than 10 employees by the end of March

The American giant Microsoft announced, this Wednesday (18), a series of cost reduction measures, including the dismissal of around 10 thousand employees by the end of March, that is, around 5% of its workforce.

Now, with full focus on artificial intelligence, more specifically on OpenAI. ChatGPT, Microsoft puts all the chips in the tool to try to break the hegemony of Google in search tools. With high investment in the sector, the division responsible for developing virtual reality tools is left aside. 

What is the ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence tool that promeanswer you about almost everything

A craze on Twitter since the beginning of the month, the platform has been attracting attention for its ease of access and for helping users with basic and complex tasks. Launched on November 30, 2022, the ChatGPT and from OpenAI, a company co-founded by Sam Altman and by the billionaire Elon Musk. Understand what the tool is and know how to access it.

Sectors that developed virtual and mixed reality tools within the Microsoft were the most affected; VR development arm will close its doors

To give you an idea, a good part of the team that developed the Hololens, the company's virtual reality glasses, has been shut down. A altspacevr, a division focused on VR and mixed reality acquired in 2017, also announced the closure doors for March 10th. Altspace was in charge of creating a virtual reality work environment, something like Teams or spatialized Meet.

In the mixed reality sector, more precisely in the project called MRTK, shutdowns also happen. It is not yet known what the company's projects under development and already completed will look like, when and how they will be launched. 

In a email sent by the CEO of Microsoft, Satya Nadella, for employees, he says that the current economic situation and the technology sector have led the company to have to cut costs. He also points out the effort to develop artificial intelligence: 

“We are living in times of significant change, and when I meet with customers and partners, some things become clear. First, as we saw customers accelerate their digital spending during the pandemic, we are now seeing them optimize their digital spending to do more with less. We are also seeing organizations across sectors and geographies acting cautiously as some parts of the world are in a recession and others are predicting one. At the same time, the next big wave of computing is being born with advances in AI, as we are transforming the world's most advanced models into a new computing platform.”

Interestingly, during his participation in the World Economic Forum, in Davos, last week, the executive of Microsoft commented that the metaverse, to succeed, would need a “moment ChatGPT”, referring to the wave of hype on the platform. Understand:

CEO of Microsoft believes that the metaverse needs “moment ChatGPT"

During this year's World Economic Forum in Davos, the CEO of Microsoft, Satya Nadella, commented to the participants that he sees potential in web3 innovations such as blockchain and metaverse, but believes that the sector needs a “moment ChatGPT”, referring to the platform’s hype.