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Facebook chief technology officer Mike Schroepfer said on Wednesday he would be stepping down.
Schroepfer will move to a part-time role with the company, and in 2022 he will be replaced by Andrew “Boz” Bosworth, who currently heads Facebook’s hardware division. Schroepfer informed Facebook of his intention to resign on Monday, according to a company file.
“It’s a tough decision because of my love for Facebook and my enthusiasm for the future we’re building together,” Schroepfer wrote on his Facebook profile. He added that he would use his extra time for philanthropy and spend time with his family.
The change in leadership comes after a series of reports released last week by the Wall Street Journal that shed light on how Facebook is ignoring or failing to properly address many issues affecting users of its services. This includes Instagram’s impact on teenage mental health as well as the way Facebook is exploited by drug cartels in Mexico to recruit contract killers, among several other issues.
Bosworth’s rise to CTO is an indication of the increasing priority of hardware among Facebook’s future plans. Earlier this year, the company indicated that the Metaverse, which is a virtual reality space where people can meet, will be a major focus for its Oculus division. This month, the company announced new smart glasses in partnership with Ray-Ban and a new generation of Portal video calling devices.
As CTO, Bosworth will continue to oversee the Facebook Reality Labs division as well as the company’s augmented reality and virtual reality efforts, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a blog post. Zuckerberg also thanked Shroepfer.
Schroepfer has worked at Facebook since joining as vice president of engineering in August 2008, and he had served as CTO since March 2013, according to his LinkedIn profile.
His part-time role with Facebook will be that of a senior fellow, Schroepfer wrote in his article. In this role, Schroepfer will focus on helping Facebook recruit and develop technical talent and continue to develop the company’s artificial intelligence projects, Zuckerberg wrote.
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