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Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Thursday that the company’s latest job cuts are tied to increased spending on artificial intelligence, while leaving the possibility of further cuts open.
Zuckerberg’s remarks were his first address to employees since Meta confirmed plans to cut about 8,000 jobs, or about 10% of the company’s workforce.
The layoffs are set to begin May 20 and come as the company ramps up its investments in AI and infrastructure, FOX Business previously reported.
“There are basically two major cost centers within the company: computing infrastructure and human-centered stuff,” Zuckerberg said, according to Reuters.
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Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company’s recent job cuts are related to increased spending on artificial intelligence. (Alex Wong/Getty Images/Getty Images)
“Investing more in one area to serve the community means less capital is allocated to other areas,” he added. “That means we have to reduce the size of the company to some extent.”
Zuckerberg said the layoffs are not related to Meta’s transition to an “AI-native” structure or efforts to build autonomous AI agents.
“The reason for the layoffs is not to allow everyone in the company to use AI tools and do their jobs more efficiently,” he said.
| ticker | safety | last | change | change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meta | Meta Platforms Co., Ltd. | 611.91 | -57.21 |
-8.55% |
Still, Zuckerberg did not rule out additional layoffs.
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Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company is cutting jobs as it ramps up its investment in artificial intelligence. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
“We’ll see how all of this plays out,” he said, adding that the company “will have more to share soon.”
“I wish I could tell you that I have a crystal ball plan for the next, let’s say three years, of how this whole thing is going to play out,” he said. “I wouldn’t. I don’t think anyone would.”
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has also started tracking employee activity, including clicks, shortcuts, and how they interact with apps, as part of an effort to train its AI systems.
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Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Metaplatforms, appears at the MetaConnect event in Menlo Park, California on September 17, 2025. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
The layoffs and surveillance efforts have sparked criticism within the company, with employees voicing their concerns on internal bulletin boards, according to Reuters.
Mehta referred FOX Business to comments from Chief Financial Officer Susan Lee, who said on the 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,” Lee said, citing rapid changes in AI capabilities.
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Meta previously cut 11,000 jobs in November 2022 and another 10,000 a few months later. The company employed about 79,000 people as of Dec. 31, according to its latest filing.
FOX Business’ Louis Casiano and Reuters contributed to this report.
