Anonymous sources told Business Insider that John Carmack, the consulting Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for Meta's virtual-reality goals, is resigning from the company. His internal post to the company leaked online, and he later confirmed in a Facebook post that he was leaving the company, citing "efficiency" as his main issue.
BURLINGAME, CALIFORNIA - MAY 04: Meta employee Dennis Hampton prepares to demonstrate a video game that is played using the Oculus Quest 2 virtual reality headset at the new Meta Store on May 04, 2022 in Burlingame, California. Meta is set to open its first physical retail store on May 9.Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
"Mixed Feelings"
Carmack has been outspokenly critical of Meta's developments in AR and VR, which are key components to fulfilling the social network's metaverse goals. On Friday, Dec. 16, he disclosed that he had ended his decade in VR.
The former CTO notes that he has "mixed feelings" about leaving the company and that the main issue is their "efficiency."
Carmack wrote in his post:
"We have a ridiculous amount of people and resources, but we constantly self-sabotage and squander effort. There is no way to sugar coat this; I think our organization is operating at half the effectiveness that would make me happy. Some may scoff and contend we are doing just fine, but others will laugh and say 'Half? Ha! I'm at quarter efficiency!' "
He noted that as an executive, he felt he should have been able to keep things moving, but he was "evidently not persuasive enough."
Carmack remarked that a significant portion of the issues he complained about only came to his attention a year or two after mounting evidence of the problem had amassed, albeit he did not provide specific examples to further elaborate on this issue.
The executive made it clear on Twitter that he has long been dissatisfied with how things are handled at Meta. In an August podcast conversation with Lex Fridman, he stated he felt "sick to his stomach" just thinking about the $10 billion loss suffered by the company's AR and VR division.
He posted complaints about the capabilities of Meta's headsets and the necessity of installing software upgrades on the company's internal message board. He appears to have been pressuring Meta to prioritize the immediate user experience when laying out its plans for the metaverse.
As anyone who listens to my unscripted Connect talks knows, I have always been pretty frustrated with how things get done at FB/Meta. Everything necessary for spectacular success is right there, but it doesn't get put together effectively.
But despite his dissatisfaction, Carmack wrote in his Facebook post that no company is more qualified to bring the best of VR to the world than Meta.
He said it is possible to achieve their metaverse goals with current practices but noted that there is still much room for improvement.
"Make better decisions and fill your products with "Give a Damn"!"
After leaving id Software, where he co-created the Doom and Quake franchises, Carmack became Meta's first chief technology officer in 2013.
He joined Meta when Facebook acquired Oculus in 2014 for $2 billion. He stepped away from Oculus in 2019 and served as CTO in a consulting position to concentrate on Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).
