Meta and Jio in talks to license Horizon VR software

Meta is reportedly in discussions with Reliance Industries Ltd’s (RIL) digital arm, Jio, to license its virtual reality (VR) software, Horizon. Jio aims to use this software to power a VR device it plans to develop, according to sources cited by The Information. These talks are part of Meta’s broader strategy to expand Horizon OS as a leading platform for VR, augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality devices.

However, the discussions are still in the early stages and might not result in a deal.

This news comes as Jio has been actively exploring AR and VR technologies. In October of the previous year, Jio launched two devices: a VR headset called JioDive and smart glasses named JioGlass. This followed Jio’s acquisition of a majority stake in the AR and VR startup Tesseract in 2019.

Extended reality, which includes AR and VR, has various applications such as enabling teachers to use 3D projections for demonstrations and simulating 3D designs for engineering models. It also has uses in healthcare and entertainment.

These talks highlight the strengthening partnership between Jio Platforms and Meta. Meta acquired a 10% stake in Jio Platforms in 2020 for $5.7 billion, and both companies have been integrating their products. For example, JioMart users can place orders via Meta’s WhatsApp.

This development follows Reliance’s annual report, which stated that Jio accounted for 60% of India’s data traffic in the 2023-24 financial year. Jio’s subscriber base reached 481.8 million by the end of the fiscal year, with total data traffic at 148.5 billion GB.

In the first quarter of FY25, Jio Platforms reported a 12% year-on-year increase in consolidated net profit to INR 5,698 crore, and revenue from operations grew 13% year-on-year to INR 29,449 crore.