Meta may cut up to 20% of its workforce as it pours billions into artificial intelligence and data centers, signaling a major shift toward automation across the global tech industry.
WEBDESK – Act Global Media
Meta Platforms is reportedly considering sweeping layoffs that could impact up to 20% of its global workforce as the social media giant accelerates massive investments in artificial intelligence infrastructure and automation.
According to internal discussions cited in multiple reports, senior executives are evaluating plans to significantly reduce staffing levels while redirecting resources toward advanced AI systems and large-scale data centers.
A spokesperson for Meta downplayed the reports, calling them speculative.
“This is speculative reporting about theoretical approaches,” said Meta spokesperson Andy Stone when asked about the potential layoffs.
Meta employed nearly 79,000 people as of December 2025. If a 20% reduction were implemented, the cuts could affect tens of thousands of employees worldwide.
If carried out, the move would mark the company’s largest workforce reduction since 2022–2023, when CEO Mark Zuckerberg launched what he called the company’s “year of efficiency,” eliminating more than 21,000 jobs across several rounds of layoffs.
Massive AI investment push
The potential restructuring comes as Meta accelerates its race to dominate generative artificial intelligence technologies.
The company has announced plans to invest up to $600 billion in data center infrastructure by 2028, dramatically expanding computing capacity to support advanced AI models.
Meta has also been aggressively recruiting top AI researchers, offering compensation packages reportedly worth hundreds of millions of dollars over multiple years.
The company recently acquired an AI-focused social networking platform called Moltbook and is reportedly spending billions to purchase the Chinese AI startup Manus as part of its expanding AI ecosystem.
Zuckerberg has repeatedly suggested that artificial intelligence could dramatically shrink the size of teams required for complex projects.
“Projects that used to require big teams can now be accomplished by a single very talented person,” he said earlier this year.
Part of wider tech industry shift
Meta’s potential layoffs reflect a broader transformation sweeping across the technology sector as companies increasingly rely on artificial intelligence to improve productivity and cut operational costs.
Earlier this year, Amazon confirmed plans to cut around 16,000 jobs, while fintech firm Block, Inc. reduced nearly half of its workforce, citing growing AI capabilities.
Industry analysts say the trend signals a structural shift in how tech companies operate, with AI expected to automate tasks previously handled by large engineering and operational teams.
Meta’s AI push follows setbacks last year involving its Llama 4 models, which faced criticism over benchmark results and forced the company to cancel the release of its largest planned version, known internally as “Behemoth.”
Despite those challenges, Meta continues to pour billions into artificial intelligence development as it competes with global tech giants in the rapidly intensifying race to build next-generation AI systems.
