Tech Titan John Carmack Leaves Meta As Doubts Are Raised About Mark Zuckerberg’s Metaverse Push
Meta just took another hit. John Carmack, a pioneer of virtual reality, leaves the position of a senior consultant at the company and complains about his inefficiency upon leaving it.
His departure comes as investors grow increasingly concerned about CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s obsession with the metaverse, a largely unrealized virtual world that has disappointed users and could take years to become profitable, if ever. time does. (Even Meta employees directly involved in the effort you don’t seem so impressed with that.)
Although Meta is still a giant thanks to Facebook and Instagram, has seen slow growth in social media and has spent heavily in the metaverse. That announced big layoffs last month and has seen its shares fall more than 60% this year.
Carmack explained his reasons for leaving Meta in a farewell note shared on facebook on Friday, writing: “We have a ridiculous amount of people and resources, but we constantly self-sabotage and waste effort. There’s no sugarcoating this; I think our organization is operating at half the effectiveness that would make me happy.”
added in a cheep that “he’s always been pretty frustrated with the way things are done on FB/Meta. Everything needed for spectacular success is there, but it doesn’t come together effectively.”
Fortune Meta has reached out for comment outside of normal business hours and will update this article with any response.
Carmack is widely known for his work with virtual reality headsets. He was the CTO of Oculus, the virtual reality firm that Facebook bought for $2 billion in 2014. He was also the lead programmer for many revolutionary video games, including Condemn Y Earthquake.
His departure will do little to reassure investors concerned about Meta’s direction, and many in the tech industry reflect on inefficiency at big companies.
Goal Frustration
Carmack’s farewell note “encapsulates a sentiment I’ve heard from literally every high-impact/most-effective person I’ve spoken to at large companies: You can make a huge difference, but you’re constantly fighting a self-sabotaging organization, ” tweeted Dan Luu, former Twitter engineer.
“It feels strange to think that even people of his caliber will face those challenges.” tweeted Vittorio Bertocci, Principal Architect of Auth0.
Carmack’s caliber was reflected in the outpouring of gratitude shown in the comments posted below his departure note, with some software engineers saying it inspired them to enter the profession.
Facebook CTO Andrew Bosworth was no less effusive, tweeting on Friday: “It is impossible to overstate the impact it has had on our work and the industry in general. His technical prowess is widely known, but what we will remember most will be his relentless focus on creating value for people. Thank you and see you in VR.”
in an august interview On Lex Fridman’s podcast, Carmack shared why VR inspired him: “My pitch was that it should be better inside the headset than outside: the world the way you want it… I think it’s going to be a positive, this world where the People want to go back to their headphones.”
Carmack will now focus on his startup Keen Technologies, which raised $20 million in August. Its goal is human-like artificial intelligence, or AGI (artificial general intelligence).
As the tweeted at the time of funding, it is “AGI or bust, via Mad Science.”
That’s a lofty goal, some would say unachievable, but at least you’ll be less hampered by the bureaucracy trying to achieve it.
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