Meta Platforms is considering sweeping layoffs that could affect 20 percent or more of its workforce as the company accelerates spending on artificial intelligence and seeks to streamline operations, according to three sources familiar with the discussions. The potential cuts, which have not yet been finalized, would represent one of the largest workforce reductions in the company’s history.
The sources said no timeline has been set for the layoffs and the exact scale of the reductions remains under discussion. However, senior executives have already signaled to other leaders across the company that they should begin planning for significant staff reductions. The people familiar with the plans spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss internal deliberations.
Meta spokesperson Andy Stone responded cautiously to the reports, describing them as speculative. “This is speculative reporting about theoretical approaches,” he said when asked about the possible layoffs.
If the company ultimately proceeds with cuts affecting around 20 percent of its workforce, it would surpass the layoffs carried out during Meta’s restructuring efforts in late 2022 and early 2023, when the company launched what it called its “year of efficiency.” According to its latest regulatory filing, Meta employed nearly 79,000 people as of December 31. In November 2022 the company cut about 11,000 jobs, roughly 13 percent of its workforce at the time, followed by another 10,000 layoffs announced four months later.
The potential new reductions come as Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg intensifies the company’s push into generative artificial intelligence. Over the past year, Meta has offered lucrative compensation packages, in some cases worth hundreds of millions of dollars over four years, to recruit leading AI researchers for a new internal superintelligence team.
At the same time, the company is committing enormous resources to AI infrastructure. Meta has said it plans to invest around $600 billion in building data centers by 2028, a massive expansion designed to support the computing power required for advanced AI systems. The company recently acquired Moltbook, a social networking platform designed for AI agents, and is also spending at least $2 billion to purchase Chinese AI startup Manus, according to previous reports.
Zuckerberg has suggested that the growing capabilities of AI could allow the company to operate with smaller teams. In January he said he was beginning to see projects that once required large groups of employees being completed by a single highly skilled individual using AI tools.
Meta’s potential restructuring reflects a wider trend among major U.S. technology firms, many of which are reassessing staffing needs as artificial intelligence becomes more capable. Earlier this year Amazon confirmed plans to cut about 16,000 jobs, roughly 10 percent of its workforce. Fintech company Block also recently reduced its staff by nearly half, with CEO Jack Dorsey citing the increasing effectiveness of AI tools that enable companies to achieve more with fewer employees.
Meta’s aggressive AI investments also follow a series of challenges with its own large language models. The company faced criticism last year over its Llama 4 models, including allegations that early benchmark results were misleading. It later abandoned plans to release the largest version of the model, known as Behemoth, which had been scheduled for launch during the summer.
The company’s new superintelligence team is now working on a different model called Avocado in an effort to restore Meta’s competitive standing in AI development. However, people familiar with the project say the model’s performance has so far fallen short of internal expectations, adding pressure on the company to refine its strategy while continuing to invest heavily in artificial intelligence.
