Facebook to Rebrand Ahead of Key Event, Reports Say

The US social media giant is expected to reveal several major changes as it shifts to focus on the Metaverse

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Published: October 20, 2021

Demond Cureton

Facebook Inc plans to change its name ahead of a key event, sources familiar with the matter told The Verge on late Monday.

The Verge’s Alex Heath said the rebranded name was a “closely-guarded secret” and not disclosed to full senior leadership, but could potentially link to the Horizon name switch.

The leak comes ahead of Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg’s address at the Facebook Connect event on October 28 and just months after the Menlo Park-based firm announced in early August it would transition to become a “Metaverse company”.

According to The Verge, Facebook’s rebrand could allow the firm to separate the US tech giant’s work on the Metaverse from its social media operations, which have been hit by a recent scandal involving former employee Frances Haugen.

The former Facebook data engineer leaked a massive number of internal memos and documents to the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) and Wall Street Journal in September this year, and later testified to Congress on Facebook’s privacy issues and business practices.

Facebook’s Major Moves in the Metaverse

The news comes after a major push from the US tech giant to develop the Metaverse, who later appointed Andrew Bosworth as head of its virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) and posted roughly 700 new Metaverse development positions to develop the rising platform set to succeed the internet.

Last week, Facebook also announced $1o million USD in funding to encourage independent immersive VR creators to build content for its anticipated Horizons Metaverse platform, which the firm rebranded as Facebook Horizon Worlds following the beta release of Horizon Workrooms.

Facebook, who also owns top social media and VR platforms such as WhatsApp, Instagram, Oculus, and others, also said this week it would hire around 10,000 employees in the European Union to develop the Metaverse.

The company currently has over 10,000 employees in its XR division to develop new products such as its AR solutions, Oculus VR headsets, and Ray-Ban smart glasses, among others.

 

 

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