The Verge reported that social media behemoth Facebook Inc is going to rebrand itself with a new name next week, citing a source with firsthand knowledge of the subject.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg plans to discuss the name change during the company’s annual Connect conference on Oct. 28, but it might be revealed sooner, according to The Verge.

Facebook said that it does not comment on rumour or conjecture.

The announcement comes at a time when the firm is under growing investigation from the US government for its business practises. Lawmakers from both parties have slammed the corporation, highlighting Congress’s growing disdain for Facebook.

According to Verge, the renaming would position Facebook’s social network app as one of many products under a parent corporation that will also manage groups like Instagram, WhatsApp, Oculus, and others.

It’s fairly usual for firms in Silicon Valley to alter their names in order to extend their offerings.

In 2015, Google formed Alphabet Inc as a holding company to handle a variety of different enterprises ranging from its autonomous car unit and health technologies to delivering internet services in distant regions.

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According to the reports, the rebranding would also reflect Facebook’s focus on developing the metaverse, an online world where individuals can utilise various gadgets to travel and interact in a virtual environment.

Facebook has made significant investments in virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), with the goal of connecting its almost three billion users via a variety of devices and apps.

It unveiled plans to generate 10,000 jobs in the European Union over the next five years to assist in the development of metaverse.

Since July, Mark Zuckerberg has been promoting the term ‘metaverse,’ which was conceived in a dystopian novel three decades ago and has been used by other internet companies such as Microsoft.

According to Verge, a possible name for the firm might be anything related to Horizon. Facebook just changed its in-development VR game platform, previously known as ‘Horizon,’ to ‘Horizon Worlds.’