Meta bets the farm on AI, no matter how high the price goes. Now, the company is reportedly preparing to cut a fifth of its workforce through mass layoffs, according to an exclusive Reuters report.
There are no exact figures or a date set for when the cuts will take place, three anonymous sources cited by Reuters said, but Meta’s top executives have reportedly asked their peers to start planning layoffs.
A representative for Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to Reuters sources, Meta plans to work with fewer employees as AI agents assist them in their daily tasks. It also aims to reduce costs associated with the accumulation of AI infrastructure.
Meta has been investing heavily to compete in the ever-changing AI landscape, creating “intelligence team“which works in fulfillment artificial general intelligenceor AGI.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has personally engineered a string of expensive deals and acquisitions during a fierce battle for AI talent, poaching the founder of Scale AI in a $14.3 billion deal and handing out $100 million in signing bonuses to OpenAI developers.
There are few winners in the community so far
CNET AI expert Katelyn Chedraoui notes that large-scale Meta AI projects have yet to materialize.
“Meta has spent a lot of money to support its AI ambitions, from recruiting to data mining,” Chedraoui said. “But all that money did not lead to many people winning, recent reports say it will be successful.” delaying the release of its new base modelcalled avocado. Rumors of cost-cutting measures such as layoffs are another sign that Meta is struggling. “
Meta and Avocado’s problems are not an isolated problem for the company. Last year, the Meta faced a series of problems brings its Llama 4 models in society. Recently, Meta’s AI-powered smart glasses were at the center of a class action lawsuit related to the filming of sensitive information — including nudity and other private encounters. The rising cost of Meta is likely tied in part to this AI-generated frustration.
The rumored layoffs wouldn’t be the first time Meta’s management has committed to cutting such a large portion of its workforce. However, this will be the first time this has happened since the company has been working hard on developing its AI models. Meta has laid off 21,000 workers between 2022 and 2023.
If these layoffs happen, Meta will be far from Silicon Valley’s only cost-cutting giant by laying off workers in the age of AI. In the last few months, big companies like AmazonBlock and Atlassian announced layoffs affecting thousands of employees, citing increased reliance on AI tools as a motivation.
Earlier this year, Zuckerberg told investors that he saw “projects that used to require large teams are now being accomplished by one talented individual.”
Meta continues to increase its spending on AI projects and platforms. The company recently purchased The Moltbookan AI social media platform, and is buying Chinese startup Manus for $2 billion. Reuters reports that the company plans to spend $600 billion on data centers by 2028.
