Meta announces major layoffs as part of its shift toward artificial intelligence
Meta plans to cut about 10% of its workforce, which could affect approximately 8,000 employees. This is stated in an internal company memo. Meta has also decided to close thousands of open positions for which it had previously planned to hire new employees. The changes are expected to take place as early as May. The main reason cited for the restructuring is CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s strategic focus on the development of artificial intelligence. According to him, this area will be key for Meta in the coming years. The company’s budget for AI projects this year is estimated at $135 billion—roughly equal to the total spending over the past three years. Zuckerberg previously noted that the development of artificial intelligence technologies will radically change work practices within the company. Meta also announced tighter internal controls: the company plans to monitor employee activity on work devices to improve its own neural networks. This decision has sparked debate within the team. According to observers, the current wave of layoffs will be Meta’s largest since 2023 and reflects its sharp strategic pivot toward AI technology development. Additionally, Meta Platforms Inc. announced a price increase for its Quest VR devices due to a significant rise in production costs for high-performance equipment. The changes will take effect on April 19 and affect markets in the U.S., the U.K., Europe, and Japan. Meta owner and billionaire Mark Zuckerberg has decided to shut down one of the company’s largest and most costly projects—the Horizon Worlds metaverse—which has incurred losses of $80 billion. Support for the VR platform on Quest devices will end by mid-June, and the app will disappear from the app store by the end of March. As a reminder, the combined wealth of the world’s 500 richest people has shrunk by $208 billion. This happened after President Donald Trump announced the imposition of tariffs, causing global markets to crash.
