Meta to cut 10% of workforce as AI spending surges to $115 billion
Meta will lay off 8,000 employees next month, representing 10% of its workforce, as the company redirects resources toward artificial intelligence investments.
The company announced the dismissals in an internal memo Thursday. Meta expects to spend between $115 billion and $135 billion on AI in 2026-an increase of at least $42 billion from 2025 spending.
Janelle Gale, Meta's head of human resources, told employees the layoffs would allow the company to "operate more efficiently" while funding AI expansion. "This is not an easy tradeoff and it will mean letting go of people who have made meaningful contributions to Meta during their time here," Gale said.
The AI Priority
CEO Mark Zuckerberg has made AI advancement the company's highest priority, positioning Meta against competitors like Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic.
Meta launched Muse Spark, its first large language model from Superintelligence Labs, earlier this month. Zuckerberg founded the labs nine months ago with the goal of creating AI assistants available to everyone.
"I think that 2026 is going to be the year that AI starts to dramatically change the way that we work," Zuckerberg told investors in January.
Industry Pattern
Meta is not alone in cutting staff while increasing AI spending. Amazon laid off 16,000 employees in January while continuing to invest in "strategic areas and functions" critical to its future.
Beth Galetti, a senior vice president at Amazon, said the company evaluates "ownership, speed, and capacity to invent for customers" across all teams.
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