Meta’s Strategic Shift to Artificial Intelligence Amid Workforce Reduction

A Meta logo was prominently displayed on a video screen at the LlamaCon 2025, an AI developer conference held in Menlo Park, California, on April 29, 2025. Company spokesperson Erica Sackin confirmed to NPR that employees affected by this reorganization have been informed.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, initiated a major reorganization on Wednesday. This move aims to enhance its focus on artificial intelligence while reducing its workforce. According to an internal memo from the previous month, Meta plans to lay off approximately 10% of its workforce, impacting around 8,000 employees in May. Additionally, about 7,000 employees will experience changes in their roles as Meta pivots to AI projects.

A source familiar with the situation mentioned, “To focus more on AI, they are moving 7,000 people to teams that focus on AI projects.”

Reuters first reported the reassignments, citing an internal memo that indicated employees would shift to four new teams involved in building AI tools and applications. NPR has not independently confirmed this report. Sackin chose not to disclose specific teams affected by these changes.

In recent times, Meta and other major tech companies have heavily invested in artificial intelligence, offering lucrative compensation to attract talent and constructing billion-dollar data centers. Despite these efforts, Meta lags behind competitors like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google in the race for AI dominance. In January, Meta announced that its capital expenditures for this year would nearly double compared to the previous year.

This reorganization aligns with a broader trend among tech firms, marked by significant job cuts and increasing attention and spending on AI advancements. These changes come amid a challenging period for Meta. The company has scaled back from its virtual reality “Metaverse” initiative, initially championed by CEO Mark Zuckerberg in 2021.

Moreover, Meta faced legal setbacks with court cases in New Mexico and California, accusing its platforms of harming the mental health of children and young people. In June, Meta, along with other tech giants, is scheduled to appear in court again, as school districts pursue legal action against social media companies, alleging their platforms contributed to a costly mental health and addiction crisis among students.