Behind Meta’s huge layoffs is a relentless shift toward AI

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Meta Platforms just offered a glimpse at what it thinks the future of work looks like: training and supervising artificial-intelligence systems to do what used to be your job. And that’s if you still have a job at all.The social-media company has been unusually aggressive, even by the standards of Silicon Valley, at pushing to incorporate AI into its employees’ workflows and using it to streamline and accelerate its operations.Already this year, it has started grading employees in performance reviews on their AI use; created ultraflat teams with almost no managers; and begun to develop a so-called CEO agent to assist Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg in performing his job.

Zuckerberg and his lieutenants have repeatedly emphasized the way AI lets small teams do the work of large ones, while moving faster.This week, the transformation kicked into high gear.On Thursday, the company said it planned to lay off 10% of its workforce, or about 8,000 people, on May 20 as it seeks to achieve greater efficiency and find cost savings to balance out its huge investments in AI.Earlier in the week, an internal memo notified employees of a new software tool that would record their keystrokes, mouse movements and click locations to teach “the next generation of our AI models to use computers.”In a separate memo, Meta’s technology chief, Andrew Bosworth, said the company is building toward a vision where AI agents primarily do the work. “Our role is to direct, review and help them improve,” he said.It is all part of the tech giant’s plans to become “AI native” and transform the way its teams and employees do their jobs as it seeks to spend up to $135 billion on AI infrastructure this year and build