Meta Eyes 20% Layoff to Fund AI Push
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- Meta is weighing layoffs of up to 20% of its staff, eliminating roughly 15,800 positions, to fund AI and data center spending, according to sources familiar with the matter reported by Reuters.
- The 20% cut would exceed Meta's 2022-2023 layoff round, when the company terminated 22,000 workers between November 2022 and early 2023.
- Meta has been pulling back from VR and the Metaverse — slashing budgets and closing studios — while ramping up spending to attract AI talent, build data centers, and acquire companies including Moltbook.
- Meta has repeatedly drawn scrutiny over its smart glasses, chatbots, and its impact on teens alongside the broader AI push.
- Andy Stone, a Meta spokesperson, dismissed the report as "speculative reporting about theoretical approaches," declining to confirm the potential downsizing.
Why it matters: Up to 15,800 Meta employees could lose their jobs while the company redirects resources into AI infrastructure and away from the Metaverse. The scale would exceed Meta's 2022-2023 cuts of 22,000 workers, and the company's refusal to publicly confirm the plan — calling it "speculative" — leaves affected workers with no signal on timing or scope.
