Meta is undergoing a dramatic strategic shift, prioritizing artificial intelligence investments over headcount. In a series of moves announced between April 19 and April 25, 2026, the company laid off approximately 8,000 employees — nearly 8% of its workforce — to redirect funding toward an AI capital expenditure plan projected at $115 billion to $135 billion for the year.
Infrastructure Expansion
The layoffs come alongside major infrastructure deals. Meta signed a multi-year agreement with Amazon Web Services to use tens of millions of Graviton5 CPU cores specifically to power agentic AI workloads. The company also broke ground on Project Anthem, a $1 billion-plus AI-optimized data center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. A new training program with CBRE will prepare fiber technicians to support the facility.
Safety and Oversight
The company released the 150-page Muse Spark Safety and Preparedness Report, which details bio-security risk margins and evaluation awareness frameworks. Additionally, Meta launched a Teen AI Insights tab, giving parents more visibility into how their children interact with AI features. Meanwhile, a new Model Capability Initiative will track US employee keystrokes to train autonomous agents.
Impact
These moves signal Meta's determination to lead in AI despite the human cost. The layoffs are the largest single reduction tied to AI investment in the tech industry so far.