Meta lays off hundreds as tech giant pushes forward with AI investment

Meta is slashing hundreds of employees in Silicon Valley as the tech giant heavily invests in artificial intelligence and weighs axing over 20% of its workforce.The Facebook parent company is cutting nearly 200 workers in the San Francisco Bay Area, according to new state filings.The reductions will hit 124 employees in Burlingame, Calif.and another 74 in nearby Sunnyvale, with the cuts taking effect in late May and all affected positions permanently eliminated, filings cited by the San Francisco Chronicle show.“Teams across Meta regularly restructure or implement changes to ensure they’re in the best position to achieve their goals,” a Meta spokesperson told The Post.“Where possible, we are finding other opportunities for employees whose positions may be impacted.”The company added that it was still hiring for critical roles and that its headcount as of Dec.

31, 2025 was 78,865 — a 6% increase year-over-year.The move comes as Meta signals a massive strategic shift — away from labor-heavy operations and toward machine-driven systems, according to experts.Recent AI efforts include a planned $10 billion spend on Meta’s data center in El Paso, Texas.Meanwhile, recent weeks have seen the company lay off about 700 employees working in operations, recruiting, sales and Meta’s “Reality Labs” unit, the Chronicle noted.The company is also weighing far deeper cuts.Senior employees have reportedly been told to prepare for layoffs that could affect more than 20% of the company’s workforce — about 15,000 workers.“This is a speculative report about theoretical approaches,” a Meta spokesperson said when asked about the plan.The potential reductions would mark the biggest layoffs at Meta since Zuckerberg oversaw more than 20,000 job cuts during the company’s “year of efficiency” push in 2022 and 2023.On a Meta earnings call, Zuckerberg said Meta is “starting to see projects that used to require big teams now be accomplished by a single, very ...