Meta is planning to reduce its workforce by about 10% as it intensifies investment in artificial intelligence and seeks greater efficiency from its remaining staff.
According to a source cited by AFP, the company is expected to lay off roughly 8,000 employees, while leaving several thousand roles unfilled in the coming month. The move reflects a broader strategy by co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg to prioritise the development of “superintelligence” amid fierce competition in the AI space.
Meta is currently competing with major players such as Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI in what is shaping up as a costly race to dominate next-generation AI technologies.
At the same time, Microsoft is reportedly considering workforce reductions through voluntary buyouts targeting certain US-based employees. Reports suggest that about 7% of its workforce could be eligible, particularly those at the senior director level or below whose combined age and years of service meet specific thresholds. The company has not publicly commented on the development.
Meta’s aggressive push into AI comes despite strong financial performance. The company recently reported quarterly earnings that exceeded expectations, although costs surged to $35.15 billion—up 40% year-on-year—driven largely by investments in infrastructure such as data centres. Capital expenditure alone reached $22.14 billion for the quarter.
Looking ahead, Meta projects total capital spending of between $115 billion and $135 billion this fiscal year, largely tied to its AI ambitions and expansion of its Superintelligence Labs.
“I’m looking forward to advancing personal superintelligence for people around the world in 2026,” Zuckerberg said during an earnings call.
Industry analysts believe the company is betting on AI to improve advertising efficiency and unlock new revenue streams, including products like smart glasses developed in partnership with EssilorLuxottica.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives noted that additional job cuts could follow as automation expands.
“We believe that this is part of Meta’s strategy to increase leverage of AI tools to automate tasks that once required large teams, allowing the company to streamline operations and reduce costs,” Ives said.
“We are encouraged by management’s cost-cutting efforts thus far.”
Meta Platforms, Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Menlo Park, California. It owns and operates several prominent social media platforms and communication services, including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, Threads, and Manus. The company also operates an advertising network for its own sites and third parties; as of 2023, advertising accounted for 97.8% of its total revenue. Meta has been described as a part of Big Tech, which refers to the largest six tech companies in the United States: Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, Meta (Facebook), Microsoft, and Nvidia, which are also the largest companies in the world by market capitalisation