Meta on Wednesday laid off around 700 employees, a person with knowledge of the company said, the latest downsizing as the Silicon Valley giant shifts its priorities toward artificial intelligence.
Less than 24 hours earlier, the company unveiled a new stock program for six top executives that could increase compensation for some of them by as much as $921 million each over the next five years. Meta said the move was a way to retain talent in the A.I. era and push it toward ambitious growth.
The dichotomy — cutting some employees while rewarding high-ranking executives — underlines how much A.I. has changed the tech industry. In recent years, Meta has been trying to move beyond its social media and metaverse businesses. Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s chief executive, has declared that he is striving to create “superintelligence,” or a godlike A.I. that can act as the ultimate personal companion.
Last year, Mr. Zuckerberg shelled out billions of dollars to hire a team of A.I. specialists. At the same time, the company planned to cut 10 percent to 15 percent of Reality Labs, its division making virtual reality and metaverse products.
The latest layoffs compounded a tough day for Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. A Los Angeles jury on Wednesday found the company liable for harming a young user with addictive design features on Instagram in a bellwether case that could open social media companies to more lawsuits over users’ well-being.
While the verdict was coming in, Meta was also announcing the 700 layoffs in the Reality Labs unit, as well as some in recruiting, sales and Facebook, a person with knowledge of the matter said. The layoffs were a fraction of the tech giant’s 78,000 employees, but signal Meta’s priorities.
“Teams across Meta regularly restructure or implement changes to ensure they’re in the best position to achieve their goals,” a Meta spokesman said in a statement. “Where possible, we are finding other opportunities for employees whose positions may be impacted.”
The layoffs were earlier reported by The Information.
Before the job cuts, Meta shared details of its new stock program for six top executives. They were Andrew Bosworth, the chief technology officer; Chris Cox, the chief product officer; Susan Li, its chief financial officer; Javier Olivan, the chief operating officer; Dina Powell McCormick, the president and vice chairman; and C.J. Mahoney, the company’s chief legal officer.
The program allows the executives to buy additional Meta stock options if the company hits certain growth targets. The most aggressive target is for Meta to become a $9 trillion company by 2031. Its current market capitalization stands at around $1.5 trillion.
If it achieves the goals, the new stock options for some of the executives — such as Mr. Bosworth, Mr. Cox and Mr. Olivan — would be worth as much as $921 million each, according to an analysis by Equilar, a compensation research firm. Ms. Li’s stock options would be worth as much as $161 million, the firm said.
It was the first time Meta gave executives stock options since it went public in 2012, when the company was named Facebook. In a statement, Meta said the program was meant to keep the company competitive with A.I. rivals and incentivize executives. Mr. Zuckerberg was not given new stock options.
“This is a big bet,” a Meta spokesman said in a statement. “These pay packages will not be realized unless Meta achieves massive future success, benefiting all of our shareholders.”
Meta has forecast that it will spend at least $115 billion this year, primarily on A.I., including on the construction of new data centers to power the technology. Mr. Zuckerberg has also said that A.I. will change how employees work, with A.I. tools allowing fewer employees to get more work done.
“I think 2026 is going to be the year that A.I. starts to dramatically change the way that we work,” he said on a call with investors in January. “We’re starting to see projects that used to require big teams now be accomplished by a single very talented person.”
Eli Tan covers the technology industry for The Times from San Francisco.
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