Meta Layoffs 2026: ‘Meta’ again makes big layoffs for AI; 200 employees furloughed in California, know what is Zuckerberg’s new ‘superintelligence’ plan

Menlo Park/California: The process of layoffs in Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, is not stopping. The company has once again restructured its operations and laid off about 200 employees in California. This decision has come at a time when Mark Zuckerberg is preparing to completely turn his company towards ‘Artificial Intelligence’ (AI). The latest layoffs are mainly to revamp the company’s technical and operational structure. The positions will be eliminated by the end of May; Sunnyvale and Burlingame most impactedAccording to official files submitted to the California Employment Development Department (EDD), Metra plans to eliminate 124 permanent positions in Burlingame and 74 in Sunnyvale. Deadline: The cuts will take effect May 22 in Burlingame and May 29 in Sunnyvale by May 29, 2026. Impact: The company says affected employees will be asked to internally find alternative roles. Help will be given, but a condition of change of location has also been kept for many posts. ‘Fourth blow’ of retrenchment in 2026: Thousands of jobs done so far. Since the beginning of the year 2026, Meta has been continuously reducing the size of its team. If we look at the figures, this is the fourth major job cut this year: January 2026: About 1,500 jobs were cut from the Reality Labs (Metaverse) division. February 2026: 102 positions were cut from the San Francisco Peninsula office. March 2026: About 700 employees were laid off from recruiting, sales and operations teams. By December 31, 2025, Metaverse There were a total of 79,000 employees, but this number is coming down rapidly after continuous layoffs this year. The biggest reason behind this retrenchment is the increasing expenditure on AI infrastructure. The company has estimated its capital expenditure (Capex) this year between $ 115-135 billion. Mark Zuckerberg has termed 2026 as the year of ‘Personal Superintelligence’. Strategy: The company is investing heavily in data centres, custom AI chips and servers. Goal: Increasing the efficiency of employees with the help of AI and taking the future business model towards automation. According to a Reuters report, Meta is reducing the budget from its old Metaverse projects and is now devoting all its energy to creating a ‘Superintelligence Unit’. Is 20% more Will there be layoffs? Company’s stance on speculation: There are also strong reports in the market that Meta may lay off 20% of its workforce (about 16,000 employees) in the coming time so that the huge expense of AI infrastructure can be compensated. However, Meta has termed these news as ‘speculation’ at this time. The company says they will continue to recruit for key technical positions, but will continue to cut non-essential roles.