Meta up nearly 3% in premarket as it plans mass layoff to offset increased AI spending
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Meta is planning capital expenditure of up to $135 billion in AI-related costs in 2026, which raised investors' fears around unsustainable spending.
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In this article MSFT GOOGL FTEC AVGO AMD NVDA AMZN XYZ IWF IYW VOO XLK QQQ META Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT Arda Kucukkaya | Anadolu | Getty Images Meta stock was on the up before U.S. markets opened on Thursday following reports the company is planning to lay off over 20% of its workforce to balance its staggering AI spending plans this year. While the timing and details of the cuts had not been finalized, top executives at the tech giant told senior leaders to start making plans to reduce headcount, three anonymous sources familiar with the matter told Reuters in an article published on Saturday. Its shares were last up 2.7% in premarket trading at 6:16 a.m. ET, after it plunged nearly 4% on Sunday. Meta employed nearly 79,000 employees as of December 2025, and the magnitude of the layoff described could affect more than 15,000 workers. This would be its largest layoff since late 2022, when CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Meta was cutting 11,000 jobs and paring back hiring as part of an expansive cost-trimming strategy. "This is a speculative report about theoretical approaches," a Meta spokesperson said in a statement to CNBC on Monday. Further potential Meta job cuts come as the tech giant doubles down on building out expensive AI infrastructure and reaping efficiency gains from AI integrated into its workflows. Several firms have already revealed major redundancy plans linked to AI in 2026. Jack Dorsey's Block said it's laying off 4,000 employees in February to enable the firm "to move faster with smaller, highly talented teams using AI to automate more work." Companies are blaming AI for job cuts. Critics say it’s a 'good excuse' Meanwhile, Amazon eliminated 16,000 roles in January in an effort to reduce layers and bureaucracy, amid plans to invest heavily in AI. So far in 2026, AI has been cited in over 12,000 job cuts in the U.S., according to the latest data from consulting firm Challenger Gray & Christmas . AI spend to reach $135 billion Meta ...
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