Meta’s total investment in virtual and augmented reality is set to top $100bn this year, as its chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has declared 2025 will be a “defining year” for its smart glasses.

In its latest annual report, Meta revealed it invested $19.9bn in its Reality Labs division last year, hitting a new high after more than a decade of heavy losses. The unit develops its Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, which Zuckerberg last week called a “real hit”, as well as its Quest VR headsets, which have been slower to take off. The company sold 1mn sets of its Ray-Ban glasses in 2024, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The Silicon Valley-based company’s cumulative investment in VR and AR product development and acquisitions has now exceeded $80bn since the initiative began in 2014 when it bought VR headset maker Oculus, according to analyst estimates and the Financial Times’ calculations based on company disclosures.