At LlamaCon 2025, hosted in Menlo Park, California, the Meta logo was prominently displayed. On April 29, Meta made headlines by initiating a significant reorganization aimed at shrinking its workforce and intensifying its efforts in artificial intelligence.
Recently, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, announced a workforce reduction of approximately 10%. About 8,000 employees will be laid off this month, as stated in an internal memo. On Wednesday, company spokesperson Erica Sackin confirmed that affected employees were informed. Additionally, 7,000 Meta employees will transition to roles focusing on AI projects as part of the company’s strategic pivot, according to a reliable source.
“To focus more on AI, they are moving 7,000 people to teams that focus on AI projects,” the source revealed. Sackin refrained from commenting on which teams will expand or contract due to these changes. Reuters first reported these team reassignments based on an internal memo indicating that employees would be shifted to four new teams dedicated to building AI tools and apps. NPR has yet to verify the report’s contents independently.
Like other major tech firms, Meta has been heavily investing in artificial intelligence, offering substantial pay packages to attract talent and constructing data centers worth billions. The goal is to gain an edge in the AI competition, an area where Meta currently trails behind OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google. In January, Meta projected this year’s capital expenditures to be nearly twice last year’s amount.
Across the tech industry, recent job cuts reflect an intensified focus and increase in spending on AI. Meta’s restructuring coincides with a challenging period for the company. It has recently pulled back from the virtual reality “Metaverse,” a future initiative that CEO Mark Zuckerberg promoted in 2021.
Earlier this year, Meta faced setbacks after losing critical court cases in New Mexico and California. These cases involved claims that its platforms negatively impacted children’s and young people’s mental health. In June, Meta, alongside other tech giants, will return to court. Several school districts have sued social media companies, asserting that they contributed to a costly mental health and social media addiction crisis among students.