Meta announced it will eliminate roughly 10 percent of its staff, about 8,000 employees, and cancel 6,000 pending hires. The move follows an internal memo from chief people officer Janelle Gale, who framed the cuts as a trade‑off to fund the company’s aggressive AI push. At year‑end 2025 Meta counted more than 78,000 workers across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.

Zuckerberg has earmarked up to $115 billion for AI this year, nearly double last year’s outlay, financing new data centers, custom chips and real‑estate for training large models. The spending spree aims to close the gap with OpenAI, Google and Anthropic, where Meta has lagged behind in foundational model development. Analysts see the layoffs as a cost‑cut to sustain that capital intensity.

Quarterly results showed a 24 percent revenue jump, which Zuckerberg credited to AI‑enhanced ad targeting and video recommendations. Investors will weigh the short‑term headcount reduction against the long‑term bet on AI‑driven products that could reshape social media consumption. The workforce trim delivers immediate expense relief while the company pours cash into the technology it hopes will drive future growth overall for shareholders.