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The tech company Meta kicked off a sweeping reorganization on Wednesday that will shrink its workforce and accelerate a pivot toward artificial intelligence.
In an internal memo last month, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp said it would lay off around 10% of its workforce — or about 8,000 people — in May. Company spokesperson Erica Sackin on Wednesday confirmed to NPR that those affected employees have been notified.
Another 7,000 Meta employees will see their roles change as part of the AI pivot, according to a source familiar with the situation but not authorized to speak publicly about the topic.
"To focus more on AI they are moving 7,000 people to teams that focus on AI projects," the person said.
Sackin declined to comment on what teams were growing or shrinking as a result of the shakeup.
The re-assignments were first reported by Reuters, which cited an internal memo saying the employees would be shifted to four new teams building AI tools and apps. NPR has not independently verified the contents of that report.
Meta and other big tech companies have been placing huge bets on artificial intelligence, luring talent with giant pay packages and building multibillion dollar data centers to try to win the AI race — one in which Meta lags behind competitors such as OpenAI, Anthropic and Google.
In January, Meta forecast capital expenditures this year that are almost double what it spent last year.
Meta's reorganization is part of a string of announcements across the tech sector in recent months of job cuts amid intensified focus and spending on AI.
It also comes in the middle of a rough stretch for the company. It has been pulling back from the virtual reality "Metaverse" that CEO Mark Zuckerberg touted as the company's future when he launched it in 2021.
Earlier this year, Meta also lost pivotal court cases in New Mexico and California claiming that its platforms have been harmful to children and young people's mental health. In June, Meta — among other tech companies — is scheduled to head back to court to face school districts that sued social media companies over claims they caused a costly mental health and social media addiction crisis among students.
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