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Meta says it will shut down its Workplace business app as it focuses on AI

Meta is closing down its suite of work-focused software tools to put more resources into its artificial intelligence and metaverse efforts.
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Posted at 6:19 PM, May 15, 2024

Meta on Tuesday said it would shut down its business-focused Workplace app so it could devote more resources to artificial intelligence.

In a statement sent to multiple outlets, Meta said "We are discontinuing Workplace from Meta so we can focus on building AI and metaverse technologies that we believe will fundamentally reshape the way we work."

Meta's Workplace is a set of collaboration tools billed as "Facebook, but for your company." It offers services like chat, video, Facebook-like groups and news feeds and integration with software from other providers such as Google and Microsoft.

Meta says users will have full access to Workplace's features until Aug. 31, 2025. Following that date, until May 31, users will only be able to see and download existing data. Workplace will be removed entirely on June 1, 2026.

The shutdown comes as Meta has funneled more resources into developing artificial intelligence products as it competes with firms like OpenAI and Google. The company plans to invest billions of dollars in AI-specific hardware, and earlier this year CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company planned to pursue artificial general intelligence.

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