A source familiar with the matter said the job cuts were carried out on Wednesday and affected units including Reality Labs, social media teams and recruiting.

The scale is smaller than earlier plans, but it follows internal discussions about deeper reductions.

Earlier in the month, Reuters reported that Meta had considered larger layoffs that could affect 20% or more of its workforce. Those plans have not been fully carried out, but they are still part of longer-term restructuring discuss.

In a statement, a Meta spokesperson said, “Teams across Meta regularly restructure or implement changes to ensure they’re in the best position to achieve their goals. Where possible, we are finding other opportunities for employees whose positions may be impacted.”

The company employed nearly 79,000 people as of December 31, according to its latest annual filing.

With these changes tied to high costs, Meta is increasing spending on artificial intelligence (AI), with total expenses projected at between $162 billion and $169 billion in 2026.

A large share of that budget will go into data centres, computing infrastructure and hiring specialised talent.

At the same time, the company is cutting back in areas that no longer sit at the centre of its plans. Reality Labs, which focuses on augmented and virtual reality, has recorded heavy losses in recent years.

Reports put those losses at about $16 billion between 2023 and 2025.

Now, attention has shifted, and Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg has placed artificial intelligence at the core of the business, reducing the weight previously given to AR and VR projects.

The latest layoffs also touch sales, global operations and other support roles, according to earlier reports. Some affected employees, especially outside the United States, have been offered options to move into other roles or locations.

Meta is not alone in this direction. Other large technology companies have made similar decisions, cutting jobs in hardware and cloud units while increasing investment in AI.

The White House said the “Ratepayer Protection Pledge,” first announced in Trump’s State of the Union Address, will see tech firms commit to measures ensuring that growth in AI infrastructure does not increase utility expenses for households and small businesses.

Sources familiar with the plan said the pledge may include commitments from companies to pay for upgrades to power delivery systems and to negotiate special electricity rates with utilities.

These tech firms are investing billions in AI computing capacity, which consumes large amounts of electricity.

Trump has urged companies to build or secure dedicated power capacity instead of relying solely on regional grids. This is intended to balance technological competitiveness with concerns over energy costs.

Jon Gordon, director at Advanced Energy United, warned that the plan might not ease stress on electricity grids quickly. “The real problem is the inability to get generation online fast enough to meet the data centre demand,” he said. “Hyperscalers paying for the generation doesn’t get it online any faster.”

Lawmakers and consumer groups have called for stronger protections to prevent utility bill increases linked to data centre build-outs.

Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, Perplexity, and Mistral AI have all joined Google in paying the Wikimedia Foundation for structured access to its projects, including the online encyclopedia’s 65 million articles.

These agreements are part of Wikimedia Enterprise, a paid API launched in 2021 that provides high-quality, reliable data tailored for large-scale use by companies. 

The initiative allows tech firms to tap Wikipedia’s content without overwhelming its servers, a problem that had been growing as companies relied more on freely available articles for AI model training.

“Wikipedia is a critical component of these tech companies’ work that they need to figure out how to support financially,” Lane Becker, president of Wikimedia Enterprise, told Reuters. 

“It took us a little while to understand the right set of features and functionality to offer if we’re going to move these companies from our free platform to a commercial platform … but all our Big Tech partners really see the need for them to commit to sustaining Wikipedia’s work.”

The timing of the announcement coincides with Wikipedia’s 25th anniversary, highlighting how far the volunteer-driven platform has come since its launch. 

What began as a community-powered encyclopedia is now a vital resource for the global tech industry, underpinning much of the data used in AI development.

Microsoft’s Tim Frank, corporate vice president, noted the importance of the development: “Access to high‑quality, trustworthy information is at the heart of how we think about the future of AI at Microsoft … (With Wikimedia), we’re helping create a sustainable content ecosystem for the AI internet, where contributors are valued.”

Traditionally funded by small public donations, Wikipedia has faced increased server costs due to large-scale content use by AI developers. 

The Enterprise programme addresses this by providing structured, paid access, creating a sustainable revenue model without undermining the free encyclopedia that millions rely on.

Adding to this era of change, Bernadette Meehan, former U.S. Ambassador to Chile, took over as Wikimedia Foundation CEO on January 20, 2026. 

Her appointment is a professionalisation of leadership as the organisation balances public service with commercial partnerships.

The new agreements formalise Wikipedia’s function in the data supply chain for tech giants while protecting the volunteer work that underpins the platform.