Meta to Cut 8,000 Jobs in April as AI Investment Reaches $135 Billion

Meta Platforms will implement thousands of job cuts next month, allocating substantial resources to its burgeoning artificial intelligence (AI) projects. An internal memo distributed on Thursday informed employees of plans to reduce the workforce by 10%, equating to around 8,000 staff, alongside the cancellation of thousands of unfilled vacancies.

This reorganisation is primarily driven by a dramatic increase in Meta's AI spending, which is projected to reach USD#135 billion in 2024. Sources familiar with the memo indicate this figure matches the company’s total AI investment over the preceding three years combined.

Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s co-founder and chief executive, signalled forthcoming job reductions in January, highlighting the increased productivity of workers utilising AI tools. He noted that AI could enable single individuals to complete projects previously requiring extensive teams, predicting that 2026 would be transformative for AI's impact on work methodologies.

This round of layoffs, which follows previous smaller reductions this year affecting approximately 2,000 workers, marks the largest since 2023. Meta’s internal focus has increasingly prioritised the rapid development of AI models and tools. The company recently announced it would begin tracking employee interactions with work computers to enhance AI model training, a move described by one employee as “dystopian” given the concurrent job losses. Since 2022, Meta has undertaken multiple rounds of dismissals, shedding tens of thousands of roles, although its overall headcount had recently returned to pre-layoff levels before this latest announcement.