Zuckerberg Killed Second AI Layoff Round Hours Before First Round in May
The plan's scope, cuts of up to 60 percent in some teams, and its partial reversal show both the scale at which a major tech company planned to substitute AI agents for workers and the operational and workforce costs that surfaced when it tried.
Meta's Project OT, an internal reorganization plan, aimed to cut some teams by as much as 60 percent through two rounds of layoffs to make the company 'AI native.' Mark Zuckerberg canceled the planned second round hours before the first round took effect in May, according to a Reuters special report. The cancellation came after employees revolted against the restructuring, a spike in buggy code was attributed to the AI-agent reorganization, and a security breach allowed hackers to hijack a former president's old Instagram account.
Reuters published a special report on August 28 naming Mark Zuckerberg as the person who canceled the second round of layoffs in Meta's Project OT reorganization, and establishing that the cancellation came hours before the first round took effect in May.
The plan had aimed to cut some teams by as much as 60 percent to make Meta 'AI native'.
Reuters special report on Project OT published, naming Zuckerberg as the person who canceled the second round.
Meta abandoned its planned second wave of AI-driven layoffs, reported August 27, after employees revolted, the reorganization produced a spike in buggy code, and hackers hijacked a former president's Instagram account in a security breach. The company had built Project OT, an internal 'organization transformation' plan, to reduce some teams by as much as 60 percent through two rounds of cuts in a push to become 'AI native'; Meta confirmed the plan to Reuters but would not disclose which teams were targeted.
Meta's abandonment of the second layoff round, following employee backlash, buggy code, and a security breach, was reported.
Ars Technica reported on Meta's Project OT plan to cut some teams by up to 60 percent.
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