Meta lays off 600 in AI division despite billion-dollar AI push

Meta lays off 600 in AI division despite billion-dollar AI push
By: Mashable Posted On: October 22, 2025 View: 3

Meta says it's still hiring for AI despite layoffs affecting teams across infrastructure and research.
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The Meta AI logo appears on a smartphone held in one hand with an abstract illustration of blue and purple colors in the background. Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp and Meta AI, makes the Artificial Intelligence assistant mandatory in its instant messaging app.
Meta layoffs are here Credit: Samuel Boivin/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Meta has invested heavily in artificial intelligence — from AI chatbots and companions to the infinite AI slop generator Vibes and even an AI-powered dating assistant. But that enthusiasm isn't translating to job security for everyone.

On Wednesday, Meta's Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang announced in a memo that the company is laying off approximately 600 employees within its AI unit. The news, first reported by Axios and confirmed by CNBC, affects staff working on AI infrastructure, the Fundamental Artificial Intelligence Research (FAIR) group, and other product-related teams.

Despite the cuts, Meta says it's still hiring for its new superintelligence division, dubbed TBD Lab.

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Impacted employees were told their last day will be Nov. 21 and are currently in a "non-working notice period." The company is offering 16 weeks of severance pay, plus two additional weeks for every year of service, and is encouraging affected employees to apply for other roles within Meta.

"By reducing the size of our team, fewer conversations will be required to make a decision, and each person will be more load-bearing and have more scope and impact," Wang wrote in the internal memo, according to TechCrunch.

The layoffs don't appear to signal a retreat from AI. Just a day earlier, Reuters reported that Meta closed a $27 billion financing deal with Blue Owl Capital to fund a massive data center expansion — a move analysts say is key to supporting its next generation of AI tools.

This also follows an aggressive AI hiring spree. In recent months, Meta has lured top talent from OpenAI, brought Wang on board, and invested $14.3 billion in Scale AI.

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Christianna Silva
Senior Culture Reporter

Christianna Silva is a senior culture reporter covering social platforms and the creator economy, with a focus on the intersection of social media, politics, and the economic systems that govern us. Since joining Mashable in 2021, they have reported extensively on meme creators, content moderation, and the nature of online creation under capitalism.

Before joining Mashable, they worked as an editor at NPR and MTV News, a reporter at Teen Vogue and VICE News, and as a stablehand at a mini-horse farm. You can follow her on Bluesky @christiannaj.bsky.social and Instagram @christianna_j.

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