Mark Zuckerberg just fired 600 employees: Here’s why

In a major shakeup, Meta has reportedly laid off around 600 employees from its artificial intelligence (AI) division, Superintelligence Labs.

The move is part of Meta’s wider restructuring effort to speed up AI development and reduce internal inefficiencies.

According to The New York Times, the layoffs are aimed at streamlining operations within the 3,000-person unit, which was built rapidly over the past three years.

The development comes as Meta continues its race to compete with AI rivals such as OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft.

The cuts, which do not affect the company’s newest recruits, including newly appointed Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang, are said to be part of CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s strategy to make Meta more agile in its AI push.

Wang, who joined Meta earlier this year, said in a message to staff that “by reducing the size of our team, fewer conversations will be required to make a decision, and each person will have more scope and impact.”

Notably, Meta’s AI ambitions have faced hurdles in recent years. Despite early success with its open-source AI model, Llama, progress reportedly slowed due to rapid hiring and organisational confusion.

Following this, Zuckerberg doubled down on AI investments, including a $14.3 billion stake in ScaleAI, an AI startup co-founded by Wang.