Meta CTO: 2025 Pivotal for AR/VR Success or ‘Legendary Misadventure’
Meta’s Chief Technology Officer, Andrew “Boz” Bosworth, has identified 2025 as a critical year for the company’s augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) endeavors within Reality Labs. In a memo published earlier this year, Boz, one of Meta’s earliest engineers, suggested that 2025 will determine whether the metaverse becomes a resounding success or a “legendary misadventure.”
During a recent interview with Bloomberg Technology, Boz expressed optimism about the potential for greatness, emphasizing that the market’s response will ultimately dictate the outcome. He noted, “We’ll judge at the end of the decade, but this does feel like the pivotal year.”
One significant breakthrough for Meta has been the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses. Boz highlighted the excitement generated by these glasses among both consumers and competitors. As of February, Meta reported selling over 2 million pairs since their October 2023 launch. Notably, these smart glasses even outsold traditional Ray-Ban models before the introduction of AI features.
The success of Meta’s smart glasses has spurred competition. Google recently announced partnerships with Gentle Monster and Warby Parker to develop their own smart glasses based on Android XR. Apple is also reportedly planning to release smart glasses in 2026.
Boz commented on the increased competition, stating, “Suddenly, we go from toiling in the realms of obscurity to being very much in the world with a product that is very attractive to consumers, and thus competitors. The clock has started on competition coming, and that just means that the progress we make in this year is of disproportionate value to any year before or after it closes.”
However, Boz acknowledged that competition alone is insufficient if the market doesn’t embrace Meta’s AR and VR products, which is crucial for industry-wide standardization. He emphasized the importance of internal confidence and vision, drawing on insights from former Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg.
“Sheryl used to always talk about how most companies don’t fail because they got beaten by a competitor,” Boz said. “Most companies fail because they didn’t execute their own plan correctly. And so what I try to do with the team is really focus us, not so much on the competitive landscape as on [whether] we’re executing to our standards.”
Meta has “a set of ambitious plans for the year” and remains on track to achieve them. Boz concluded, “What we’ll know by the end of the year is whether we executed on our plan or not. What we’ll know in five years time is whether that was enough.”
