Meta to cut 8,000 jobs (10% of workforce) starting May 20, redirecting $115-135B to AI

Meta will begin cutting approximately 8,000 employees (10% of its 78,865-person workforce) on May 20, 2026, with additional cuts planned for the second half of the year, confirmed in an internal memo from HR head Janelle Gale. The company will also stop filling 6,000 open roles. The restructuring redirects capital toward AI infrastructure spending of $115-135 billion in 2026, up 73% from $72.2 billion in 2025. Meta is building Prometheus, a one-gigawatt AI supercluster in Ohio, and Hyperion, a 2,250-acre, $10 billion facility in Louisiana capable of five gigawatts. Teams are being reorganized into AI-focused 'pods' under Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang's Superintelligence Labs. CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated AI automation is not the main reason for layoffs but acknowledged AI has made small teams more efficient. The cuts follow January/February reductions of roughly 1,700 Reality Labs employees and 700 across sales and recruiting. Total cuts since 2022 reach approximately 25,000 employees.