Meta cuts 700 jobs as it dangles up to $921 million for top executives in AI push

Meta laid off about 700 employees on Wednesday, with cuts concentrated in Reality Labs as well as parts of recruiting, sales, and Facebook, according to reports from The New York Times and other outlets.

The move marks another step in the company’s shift away from lower priority units and toward artificial intelligence, even as Meta continues to spend aggressively on infrastructure and top talent.

The timing drew attention because the job cuts came less than a day after Meta disclosed a new stock option program for six top executives. The package is tied to performance goals that extend through 2031, with the most aggressive scenario requiring Meta to reach a $9 trillion market capitalization. Under that framework, some executives could receive stock awards worth as much as $921 million each, according to an Equilar analysis cited by multiple reports.

That contrast says a lot about how Meta is repositioning itself. Mark Zuckerberg has spent the past year pushing the company harder into AI, including a broad superintelligence strategy and a costly race for infrastructure, compute, and elite researchers.

On its January earnings call, Meta said 2026 capital expenditures would land between $115 billion and $135 billion as it builds out data centers and other systems to support its AI ambitions.

Reality Labs looks like the clearest loser in that reshuffle. Business Insider reported earlier Wednesday that employees in affected groups had been told to work remotely ahead of the cuts, while prior reporting indicated Meta had already been planning to trim 10% to 15% of the division.

                    **Disclosure:** This article was edited by Estefano Gomez. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.