Meta plans 10% layoffs as AI spending soars: Source

Meta Platforms plans to cut about 10% of its workforce, equivalent to roughly 8000 employees. Photo / Getty Images

Meta plans to cut a tenth of its workforce, looking for productivity gains from its remaining workers as it invests heavily in artificial intelligence.

Meta will lay off about 8000 employees and leave thousands of other positions unfilled next month, a source told AFP.

The move comes as co-founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg makes a priority of delivering “superintelligence” in a costly AI race against rivals, including Amazon, Google, Microsoft and OpenAI.

Reports on Thursday also indicated that Microsoft is looking to trim its ranks with voluntary buyouts of some US employees in an unprecedented move by the tech stalwart founded in 1975.

About 7% of US employees at Microsoft were reported to be eligible for an offer aimed at workers senior director level or lower whose years of employment and age add up to 70 or more, according to a CNBC report.

Microsoft, which has also been pouring billions of dollars into AI, did not respond to a request for comment.

Meta and Microsoft are both set to report quarterly earnings next week.

Meta in January reported quarterly earnings that topped market expectations, as revenue grew with investments in AI.

Meanwhile, costs tallied US$35.15 billion ($60 billion), an increase of 40% from the same period a year earlier, the earnings report noted.

Capital expenses, including infrastructure such as data centres to power AI, were US$22.14 billion in the quarter, according to the company.

Meta anticipated capital expenditures in the US$115 billion to US$135 billion range this fiscal year, driven by increased investment in Meta Superintelligence Labs and its core business.

“I’m looking forward to advancing personal superintelligence for people around the world in 2026,” Zuckerberg said on an earnings call.

Meta is locked in a bitter rivalry with other tech behemoths racing to invest heavily in AI, aiming to ensure the technology generates profits in the not-so-distant future.

Most analysts believe Meta will make the investment pay off by improving advertising efficiency and creating new opportunities, such as with its smart glasses through a partnership with Ray-Ban maker EssilorLuxottica.

-Agence France-Presse