Meta Plans Sweeping Layoffs as AI Costs Surge

Meta Platforms is reportedly preparing for sweeping layoffs that could impact more than 20% of its workforce, as the company grapples with rising costs tied to its ambitious push into artificial intelligence, according to a Reuters report.

Sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that senior executives have asked managers to begin planning for significant job cuts as the company increases spending on AI infrastructure and computing resources. The final scale and timeline of the layoffs have not yet been confirmed. 

If implemented, the reductions could affect around 15,000 to 16,000 employees, making it one of the largest rounds of job cuts in the company’s history. Meta had nearly 79,000 employees globally as of the end of 2025. 

The potential layoffs come as Meta accelerates investment in artificial intelligence to compete with companies such as OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic.

Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg has been aggressively steering the company toward AI-driven products, pouring billions into computing infrastructure, custom chips, and large-scale data centres needed to train and run advanced AI models. 

Meta plans to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on AI infrastructure by the end of the decade, including massive data-centre expansion projects and high-performance chips for training large language models. 

At the same time, the company has been building specialized AI teams and pursuing acquisitions aimed at strengthening its position in the emerging AI agent and generative AI markets. 

The planned cuts would follow several previous rounds of layoffs at the company.

In 2022 and 2023, Meta eliminated about 21,000 jobs during what Zuckerberg called the company’s “year of efficiency.” 

More recently, the company has continued trimming certain divisions while expanding investment in artificial intelligence, reflecting a broader shift in priorities within Silicon Valley.

Technology companies across the industry are restructuring to redirect resources toward AI development, often reducing headcount in other departments while expanding engineering and research teams focused on machine learning and automation.

Meta’s reported plans highlight how the rapid rise of artificial intelligence is reshaping hiring strategies across the technology sector.

Many companies now believe AI tools can allow smaller teams to accomplish work that previously required larger workforces, prompting executives to rethink organizational structures and staffing levels.

The trend is not unique to Meta. Several major technology firms have announced layoffs in recent months as they reallocate spending toward AI infrastructure, automation systems, and next-generation computing platforms.

Meta has not officially confirmed the planned layoffs, and a company spokesperson reportedly described the report as speculative. 

However, the discussions underscore how the AI race is forcing some of the world’s largest technology companies to make difficult trade-offs between massive investment in new technology and maintaining large workforces.