Meta Lays Off 8,000 Workers in May 2026 as Zuckerberg Shifts Spending to AI

Meta confirmed in May 2026 that it is laying off approximately 8,000 employees, about 10 percent of its total workforce. The company is also leaving thousands of previously open positions unfilled as it redirects spending toward artificial intelligence.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said that AI tools now allow smaller teams to accomplish work that previously required much larger groups. The company's 2026 capital expenditure guidance has reached as high as $145 billion, directed toward data centers and computing clusters needed to train next-generation AI models.

The layoffs follow earlier, smaller rounds of cuts in 2026, including reductions in the Reality Labs unit and the dismissal of contracted content moderators. Employees expect further organizational changes later in the year.

Meta has also introduced a program called the Model Capability Initiative, which tracks employee interactions on work computers, including keystrokes and mouse movements, to train AI models. Some staff have described the program as dystopian, and employee petitions calling for its termination have circulated internally. Ratings on the professional network Blind show a decline in Meta's internal culture scores throughout 2026.

The company is competing directly with Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and OpenAI for dominance in AI infrastructure. Meta has also released Forum, a new standalone app tied to Facebook Groups, as it tries to defend community engagement against competition from Reddit, Discord, and AI-powered feeds.