In a surprising move amid its continued push in artificial intelligence, Meta has reportedly laid off around 600 employees from its superintelligence division, according to a memo from Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang, first obtained by Axios. The tech giant confirmed to TechCrunch that the report was accurate but declined to provide further details on the internal changes.
The layoffs come at a time when Meta is heavily investing in AI infrastructure and competing head-to-head with industry giants such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google DeepMind. Over the past few months, Meta aggressively recruited top AI talent, reportedly poaching more than 50 researchers from rival companies with lucrative multimillion-dollar offers. Despite this hiring spree, the company now appears to be recalibrating its workforce to enhance operational efficiency.
In his memo, Wang explained the reasoning behind the job cuts: “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.” His comments reflect Meta’s ongoing internal philosophy, championed by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, of running a leaner, more efficient organization.
This restructuring echoes the so-called “year of efficiency” initiative introduced by Zuckerberg in 2023, which led to thousands of layoffs across multiple divisions, including Reality Labs and Facebook’s core product teams. While many saw that phase as Meta’s attempt to cut costs, the company described it as a necessary evolution to streamline decision-making and focus on high-priority areas such as AI and the metaverse.
Interestingly, Meta’s latest move doesn’t appear to be a traditional downsizing effort. Instead, it seems to be part of a strategic reorganization, with the company noting that many affected employees could transition into other roles within Meta. This suggests that the company’s overall headcount may remain relatively stable while its internal structure adapts to changing priorities in AI development.
Meta’s AI ambitions remain ambitious. The company continues to scale LLaMA (Large Language Model Meta AI), its open-source AI platform, and expand its capabilities in generative AI for products like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The latest restructuring may therefore reflect a shift toward aligning its human resources with the evolving demands of these projects.
As the AI arms race intensifies, Meta’s decision underscores a growing industry trend: even as tech giants spend billions to build advanced AI systems, they are also seeking greater efficiency, agility, and accountability in their teams.
