Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, plans to cut thousands of jobs as it redirects more money towards artificial intelligence, according to sources who spoke to Reuters. Insiders say the cuts could affect up to 20 percent of the company’s workforce.
Executives at Meta have discussed the plans in recent weeks. They believe AI systems can take over many tasks or make them more efficient. The company has not set a start date for the layoffs, and the final number of job losses remains unclear. Meta ended last year with nearly 79,000 employees. It also carried out major layoffs in late 2022 and early 2023 to reduce costs.
Meta declined to comment on the reports.
In January, during the release of its annual results, the company said it would increase its spending on AI. It plans to invest about 600 billion dollars in data centres for AI applications. Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg wants to build the infrastructure, computing power, and expertise needed to compete in the global AI race. His long‑term goal is to reach so‑called superintelligence, a theoretical point where AI systems outperform humans.
Other large tech companies are also cutting jobs as they adopt more AI tools. Earlier this year, Amazon announced plans to remove another 16,000 office roles, saying AI can now handle much of the work.
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