Meta Axes Thousands as AI Spending Spree Forces Tough Cuts

Bloomberg, CNBC, BBC, NBC News, the New York Times, and Business Insider contributed to this report.

Meta is swinging the axe again – and this time it’s big. The company plans to cut about 10% of its workforce, roughly 8,000 jobs, as it pours staggering amounts of money into artificial intelligence.

The layoffs start May 20. At the same time, Meta is freezing hiring on around 6,000 open roles, according to an internal memo that quickly made its way outside the company.

The message is blunt: costs are rising fast, and something has to give.

This isn’t a one-off move. The parent company of Facebook and Instagram has already trimmed staff in smaller waves this year – from metaverse teams to broader operations – all under the banner of “efficiency.” Now the cuts are deeper, and harder to ignore.

Behind it all is CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s all-in push on AI. The company is spending heavily to catch up with rivals like OpenAI, Google and Anthropic. Billions are going into data centers, chips, and top-tier researchers. The bill for 2026 alone is expected to hit around $135 billion – roughly matching what Meta spent on AI over the previous three years combined.

That kind of spending reshapes everything.

Inside the company, priorities have shifted quickly. Teams are smaller. Hiring is tighter. Tools powered by AI are doing work that once needed entire groups. Zuckerberg has hinted at this for months, pointing out that one person using AI can now handle tasks that used to require a full team.

Employees are feeling the change in other ways too. Meta recently rolled out internal tracking systems that monitor how staff use their computers – data that feeds directly into training AI systems. Some workers see it as the future. Others call it unsettling, especially with layoffs looming.

Across the tech industry, the pattern is familiar. Microsoft is offering buyouts. Amazon has already cut thousands. The AI boom is driving hiring in some areas while quietly erasing roles in others.

Meta, for its part, says the cuts are about running leaner and freeing up resources for what comes next. That next phase is clearly AI – and the company is betting big that the payoff will come.

For now, though, thousands of employees are left waiting for May 20, when inboxes will decide who stays and who goes.