Just four months after Microsoft formed a team to help customers use the metaverse in industrial settings, the company has disbanded it and laid off all of its approximately 100 employees.
Launched in October 2022, the Industrial Metaverse Core team supported
software interfaces for operating the control systems behind electrical
power plants, industrial robotics, and transportation networks.
- The team reportedly was impacted by Microsoft's announcement last month to lay off 10,000 employees, cutting its global workforce by 4.5%.
- The cuts reflect Microsoft's efforts to prioritize near-term revenue projects over long-term ones.
- Companies such as Coca-Cola, Unilever, Anheuser-Busch InBev, and GM had used Microsoft's industrial metaverse services.
- The Industrial Metaverse Core team was internally known as Project Bonsai.
