A reorganization is underway at Meta that involves cutting 10% of the tech giant’s workforce to make way for AI.
In addition to eliminating those 8,000 jobs, the company, whose digital properties include Facebook and Instagram, will reassign 7,000 workers to adapt to the changing times, NPR reported on Wednesday.
A company spokesperson told NPR that employees impacted by staff modifications have been notified. Meta declined to comment on which of its teams were impacted.
Reuters reported on Monday that 20% of the company’s staff would be affected by Meta’s changing business model. Some workers were said to have been moved to one of several new teams that build AI tools.
More than 1,500 scientists and engineers employed by Meta signed a petition last week to stop the company from collecting “employee ‘computer-use’ data for the purposes of training AI Models.”
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly reasoned in a layoff memo obtained by CNBC that “the companies that lead the way will define the next generation” in the competitive world of AI technology.
A Meta representative didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Amazon said in January that it was eliminating around 16,000 jobs to “strengthen our organization by reducing layers, increasing ownership and removing bureaucracy.”
Roughly six months earlier, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy released a statement expressing optimism over the future of artificial intelligence.
“In virtually every corner of the company, we’re using Generative AI to make customers’ lives better and easier,” he said.
The online retail giant laid off 660 New York City-based workers in October, according to U.S. Department of Labor data.
SpaceX and X owner Elon Musk and OpenAI are also on the frontlines of a battle to operate in the artificial intelligence space.
Musk had claimed that OpenAI’s top executives wrongly turned the AI company he invested in as a nonprofit into a profitable venture without his involvement. A federal court tossed the case because Musk took too long to file the suit.
With News Wire Services