Report: Facebook has tasked a co-author of Windows NT with building an OS from scratch, in order to stop relying on Android for products like Oculus and Portal
Facebook's hardware line — Oculus headsets and Portal displays — runs on Android today, which means Google sits underneath every device the company ships. The report that a co-author of Windows NT is leading a from-scratch OS effort is the software counterpart to what Axios later framed explicitly: after losing out to Apple and Google on smartphones, Facebook's big bets on VR and AR are attempts to control the next hardware platforms outright.
The timing matters because the hardware roadmap was expanding at once — Bosworth's Project Aria AR glasses program with roughly 100 Seattle and SF testers was refining the experience that same period — and because regulators were already circling: Bloomberg reported the DOJ talking to developers about Facebook's VR business practices.
First-order effects
Oculus and Portal move off a roadmap where Google controls the underlying OS version, security patches, and services layer — Facebook gains authority over update cadence and preinstalled software on its own devices.
The hire signals this is a multi-year systems-software commitment, not a fork-and-rebrand: recruiting proven kernel-level talent is the first visible cost of independence.
Second-order effects
Google loses one of its most prominent non-phone Android licensees, weakening the argument that Android's reach extends naturally into new device categories like VR headsets and smart displays.
An owned OS deepens the closed ecosystem the DOJ was already probing with developers — tighter integration between Quest hardware, the store, and Work Accounts-style enterprise features raises both switching costs for users and antitrust exposure for Facebook.
Third-order effects
If the pattern holds, next-generation computing platforms consolidate around companies that own the full stack — chip-to-OS-to-store — repeating the Apple model rather than the licensed-Android model, with Facebook positioned as a third vertically integrated platform owner alongside iOS and Android.
For developers, each new Facebook-controlled platform adds another set of proprietary APIs, review processes, and revenue terms to navigate — the fragmentation cost of every major player insisting on its own OS.
The trend: Having missed the smartphone OS window, Facebook is pursuing vertical software ownership so that whatever platform succeeds the phone — VR, AR glasses — runs on code it controls end to end.
Facebook tells me its exploring building a custom operating system for its upcoming augmented reality glasses https://techcrunch.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Another go at #FacebookOS? Good luck with that! And, in even more reassuring news: “@Facebook is also working on a #BrainControl interface for its glasses, which could allow users to control them with their thoughts.” Are we sure about word order there? https://www.theverge.com/.…
Honestly, this makes total sense. As a large company that owns the low layer (Oculus hardware) and the high layer (end-user software), it wouldn't make any sense to have no control over the mid layer (OS). I just hope Social VR never goes mainstream... https://techcrunch.com/...
Part of my thesis on Facebook is that it becomes a generational winner like Microsoft has; they're definitely working to make that happen. @boztank: “We really want to make sure the next generation has space for us... And so we're gonna do it ourselves.” https://www.theinformatio…
A couple bits of interesting Facebook news this morning... the public reveal of their new 4000-seat AR/VR/Oculus campus in Burlingame being one of the more interesting ones. https://techcrunch.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Great reporting on Facebook's moves into spatial computing. The wave that's coming is huge and Zuckerberg is right to invest billions in it. Paradigm shifts change belief and behavior, which destroy big companies that bet wrong. Borland, Nokia, or WordPerfect anyone? https://twit…
New: Facebook this year sought to buy a chip supplier for Apple devices for more than $4.5B. I haven't read a more thorough look at Facebook's hardware efforts than this one. https://www.theinformation.com/ ... by @alexeheath $fb
Great reporting here on Facebook's hardware efforts from @alexeheath https://www.theinformation.com/ ... Getting Oculus off Android could be important, as I think 2020's Medal Of Honor shooter for Quest is going to be huge https://twitter.com/...
If Facebook launched AR/camera glasses with Instagram branding but its own operating system, it could be harder for anti-trust to break them up https://techcrunch.com/...
Facebook is at the mercy of the dominant mobile platforms today. @alexeheath digs in deep on the company's hardware plans to see how they plan to change that in the future. https://www.theinformation.com/ ...
An excellent read by @alexeheath @theinformation To Control Its Destiny, Facebook Bets Big on Hardware https://www.theinformation.com/ ... I would have added “VERY VERY VERY Far” to this paragraph on Facebook's chances of success in hardware :) https://twitter.com/...
I talked to @boztank and other execs leading Facebook's hardware efforts about how the company is charting its own course for the coming shift in tech platforms. AR glasses, brain tech, AI assistant, custom silicon, an OS to get off Android; it's all here https://www.theinformati…