Meta to shut down Workplace app for business

Facebook-owner Meta said Tuesday it is shutting down its business-focused Workplace app to focus on artificial intelligence and metaverse.

The company said it believes the AI and metaverse technologies it is developing "will fundamentally reshape the way we work" as it winds down the Workplace product, an online collaboration tool aimed at corporate customers. 

Existing customers can use Workplace until August 31, 2025, when they'll be given the option of transitioning to Zoom's Workvivo product, which Meta called its "only preferred migration partner." Customers will be able to view their Workplace data for roughly a year after the app ceases functioning, according to the company. 

Workplace, which was introduced in 2016, enables file sharing among colleagues as well as provides a hub for a company's policies and documents, among other features. In 2021, the app had 7 million paid subscribers. 

The move to ditch the app comes as Meta invests billions in developing its metaverse and AI capabilities, while cutting thousands of jobs in other departments. The company launched new AI-powered chatbots in April that exhibited both impressive capabilities and strange tendencies. 

For example, when a Meta AI agent was unleashed on social media, it tried to give away nonexistent items to members of a "Buy Nothing" group on Facebook.

—With reporting from the Associated Press