MENLO PARK, USA — Meta Platforms is set to lay off about 600 employees from its artificial intelligence (AI) division, in what appears to be the latest move by the company to trim operations and consolidate its sprawling workforce.
According to an internal memo cited by CNBC, the layoffs were announced by Alexandr Wang, Meta’s chief AI officer, who joined the company in June as part of its $14.3 billion partnership with Scale AI.
The job cuts will affect staff in Meta’s AI infrastructure teams, its Fundamental Artificial Intelligence Research (FAIR) unit, and several product-related roles.
Employees were informed on Wednesday that they would be officially terminated on Friday, November 21, 2025, but placed on a “non-working notice period” until then.
During that time, staff will lose internal access but will continue to receive pay and benefits.
“During this time, your internal access will be removed, and you do not need to do any additional work for Meta,” the company told employees in a message obtained by CNBC.
“You may use this time to search for another role at Meta.”
The company also said affected employees will receive 16 weeks of severance pay, plus an additional two weeks for each year of completed service, minus the notice period.
The latest layoffs come as part of Meta’s ongoing effort to streamline its corporate structure and reduce management layers, a process CEO Mark Zuckerberg previously described as a “year of efficiency.”
Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has invested heavily in artificial intelligence over the past two years, viewing it as essential to powering its advertising business, content recommendation systems, and long-term ambitions in the metaverse.
Wang’s appointment earlier this year was seen as a signal of Meta’s intent to accelerate its AI research and infrastructure development, particularly through its collaboration with Scale AI, a data-labelling and model-training company.
The job cuts add to a broader wave of restructuring across the technology industry as companies seek to balance aggressive investment in AI with cost control.
Over the past year, major tech firms including Google, Amazon, and Microsoft have announced staff reductions in overlapping AI or cloud divisions.
While Meta did not publicly comment on the latest layoffs, analysts say the decision underscores the company’s effort to focus resources on high-performing teams and strategic initiatives rather than maintaining large experimental units.
The 600 job cuts mark one of Meta’s most significant reductions within its AI operations and suggest a tightening of priorities even as the company continues to position itself as a major player in the global race to dominate artificial intelligence development.
