Meta reportedly spent much of this year testing a plan in which AI would take over many of the workforce's daily tasks. Dubbed Project OT, the plan appears to connect two stories from earlier this year: Meta's 10 percent workforce reduction and the company's program that tracked employees' mouse movements and keystrokes. Executives considered reducing some teams' headcounts by as much as 60 percent, with layoffs making up part of the reduction.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg ultimately abandoned (or at least paused) that part of the plan, for reasons Reuters didn't uncover. One reason may have been that Meta's internal AI push wasn't going so hot. Code changes to Meta's AI software platforms and infrastructure were up 220 percent year over year, but new or improved features that actually reached users rose just 36 percent, and technical and security incidents rose 40 percent.

In July, Zuckerberg admitted he overestimated how quickly the technology would advance. Meanwhile, the tracking software that the company installed on US employees' computers led to complaints, employee-sentiment scores fell by 19 points, and labor-organizing efforts grew.

Reuters says that Meta hasn't necessarily abandoned the broader plan. Zuckerberg's messaging about further layoffs only reassured employees that further "company-wide" cuts wouldn't happen "this year," sparking internal fears about smaller reductions this year or broader ones in 2027.