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Meta to Cut 10% of Staff This Week as AI Push Reshapes Company

The cuts shift cash and talent to an AI buildout that could push 2026 spending to $145 billion.

Overview

  • Meta, which begins notifying workers Wednesday, plans to eliminate about 8,000 roles worldwide in a reorganization tied to its artificial intelligence strategy.
  • Leaked U.S. severance terms promise 16 weeks of base pay plus two weeks per year of service and 18 months of COBRA health coverage, with career and immigration support offered.
  • Executives say the overhaul will make teams leaner to fund AI projects, after raising 2026 capital spending guidance by up to $10 billion to as high as $145 billion and admitting the firm has underestimated computing needs.
  • Employees have protested a new internal tool called the Model Capability Initiative that records actions like mouse movements and keystrokes to train AI agents, stoking privacy and trust concerns inside the company.
  • The company also canceled plans to fill roughly 6,000 open roles and made targeted cuts earlier this year, and multiple reports say more reductions could follow later in 2026.