Meta, which owns and operates Facebook and Instagram—as well as Threads, Messenger, and WhatsApp—announced on Wednesday it is laying off about 600 employees from its new AI “superintelligence” research lab. The news was first reported by Axios.
Fast Company has reached out to Meta for comment.
That lab, dedicated to pursuing an artificial intelligence system that would reportedly surpass human intelligence, was announced back in June after Meta said it was investing $14.3 billion in Alexandr Wang’s Scale AI and bringing him on board.
The cuts come as Big Tech ramps up its investment in artificial intelligence, pouring billions in an increasingly competitive, high-stakes AI arms race. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says the social technology company plans to invest between $60 billion and $65 billion in capital expenditures in 2025 alone.
At the same time, Meta has been rolling out AI advertising features at a dizzying rate, and is also reportedly building a large Manhattan data center to power its AI offerings.
“By reducing the size of our team, fewer conversations will be required to make a decision, and each person will be more load-bearing and have more scope and impact,” Meta chief AI officer Alexandr Wang wrote in a memo, Axios reported.
Meta financials
Shares in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ: META) took a dip in morning trading on Wednesday, but for the most part recovered, and were trading down 0.4% by midday at the time of this writing.
In its second quarter 2025 earnings release, for the period ending on June 30, Zuckerberg wrote, “We’ve had a strong quarter both in terms of our business and community: I’m excited to build personal superintelligence for everyone in the world.”
The company beat expectations with revenue coming in at $47.52 billion, versus estimates of $44.80 billion. Earnings per share (EPS) came in at $7.14, higher than the expected $5.92.
The company’s third quarter 2025 financial results will be released after market close on Wednesday, October 29.