Meta lays off thousands of employees to offset AI investments

A striking development has emerged in artificial intelligence. Tech TechPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. FollowSee All Tech AI AIPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. FollowSee All AI Business BusinessPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

FollowSee All BusinessMeta lays off thousands of employees to offset AI investments8,000 staffers are reportedly affected, around 10 percent of the company. 8,000 staffers are reportedly affected, around 10 percent of the company. by Jess Weatherbed Jess WeatherbedNews ReporterPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Technical Details

FollowSee All by Jess WeatherbedMay 21, 2026, 9:20 AM UTC Meta says it needs to “offset the other investments we’re making. ” Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty ImagesPart OfThe tech industry’s layoffs and hiring freezes: all of the newssee all updates Jess Weatherbed Jess WeatherbedPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. FollowSee All by Jess Weatherbed is a news writer focused on creative industries, computing, and internet culture.

Jess started her career at TechRadar, covering news and hardware reviews. Meta has reportedly notified thousands of employees that they’ve been laid off as the company attempts to compensate for its hefty AI investments. In an email from Meta management shared by Business Insider, impacted staffers were told that the planned headcount reduction was part of the company’s “continued effort to run the company more efficiently and to allow us to offset the other investments we’re making.

”Reports of an upcoming wave of layoffs started circulating in March, though at that time Meta was believed to be cutting up to 20 percent of its total company headcount. According to a recent memo shared in May, the layoffs are now believed to be impacting approximately 8,000 people, around 10 percent of Meta’s 78,000 employees. The layoffs follow Meta forecasting in January that it will spend $115 billion-$135 billion in capital expenditures in 2026, which would be used to “support our Meta Superintelligence Labs efforts and core business.

Industry Implications

” That’s almost double the $72. 22 billion spent by the company in 2025 by comparison. Alongside cutting active roles, Business Insider reports that Meta is moving more than 7,000 staffers to work on new AI initiatives, and 6,000 open roles are being closed, according to Bloomberg.

“We want to say again that we’re grateful for your contributions. Your impact at Meta has been an important part of our story,” Meta said in closing the memo to laid off employees. Some of those impacted have postedaboutbeing laid off on LinkedIn, showing their Meta employee badges and confirming that the cuts are now underway.

One former employee mentions she was let go alongside “8,000 metamates. ” We have reached out to Meta to confirm how many employees were affected.

This advance offers important signals about the future of the sector, and the tech world is watching closely.