Zuckerberg says Meta layoffs tied to AI spending, won't rule out future cuts

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Thursday the company’s latest round of layoffs is tied to increased spending on artificial intelligence, while leaving the door open to additional job cuts.

Zuckerberg made the remarks during a company town hall, his first time addressing employees since Meta confirmed plans to cut roughly 8,000 jobs — about 10% of its workforce.

The layoffs, which are expected to begin May 20, come as the company ramps up investment in AI and infrastructure, FOX Business previously reported.

"We basically have two major cost centers in the company: compute infrastructure and people-oriented things," Zuckerberg said, according to Reuters.

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"If we’re investing more in one area to serve our community, then that means we have less capital to allocate to the other," he added. "So that means we do need to take down the size of the company somewhat."

Zuckerberg said the cuts are not tied to Meta’s shift toward an "AI-native" structure or efforts to build autonomous AI agents.

"Getting everyone internally to use AI tools and getting to do the work more efficiently is not the thing that's driving layoffs," he said.

Still, Zuckerberg declined to rule out additional job cuts.

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"We'll see how all this stuff trends" he said, adding that the company would "be able to share more soon."

"I wish that I can tell you that I have a crystal ball plan for the next, like, three years of how all this stuff is going to play out," he said. "I don't. I don't think anyone does."

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, has also begun tracking employee activity — including clicks, shortcuts and how workers navigate apps — as part of efforts to train its AI systems.

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Reuters reported the layoffs and monitoring efforts have sparked internal criticism, with employees voicing concerns on company message boards.

Meta referred FOX Business to comments from CFO Susan Li, who said during an earnings call that the company’s long-term size remains uncertain.

"We don’t really know what the optimal size of the company will be in the future," Li said, citing rapid changes in AI capabilities.

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Meta previously cut 11,000 jobs in November 2022 and another 10,000 months later. The company employed nearly 79,000 people as of Dec. 31, according to its latest filing.

FOX Business’ Louis Casiano and Reuters contributed to this report.