The layoffs, which Meta employees had been anticipating for weeks, will be the company's deepest since 2023 and come as the firm pours capital into artificial intelligence.
Meta will eliminate 8,000 positions as the social-media giant accelerates spending on artificial intelligence, the company confirmed.
The cuts are the largest Meta has made since 2023, according to the company. Employees had been expecting the reductions for several weeks before the announcement.
Scale and timing
The 8,000 figure represents roughly one in ten of Meta's workforce. Microsoft is separately offering voluntary buyouts to approximately 8,750 employees — a first for the Windows maker — signalling that cost discipline is widening across the US technology sector.
AI expenditure driving restructuring
Meta has framed the headcount reduction as part of a broader reallocation of resources toward AI development. The company has not specified which divisions will absorb most of the cuts or provided a timeline for when all departures will take effect.
Regulatory pressure adds complexity
Meta is also navigating an attempted acquisition in the AI space that has drawn regulatory resistance. Chinese authorities moved to block Meta from acquiring AI startup Manus, tightening scrutiny of the sector amid an intensifying geopolitical contest over the technology. Meta said the transaction "complied fully with applicable law" and that it anticipates "an appropriate resolution to the inquiry."
Separately, the Trump administration has vowed to crack down on foreign technology companies' exploitation of US artificial intelligence models, singling out China as that country narrows the gap with the United States in AI capability. A White House memo attributed to Michael Kratsios stated that firms, primarily in China, are wrongfully distilling US AI models.
Internal data collection
As it restructures, Meta is also moving to extract value from its remaining workforce: the company said it will collect data on the way employees interact with their computers — including clicks and keystrokes — to train its AI models.
