Meta: Zuckerberg's AI Obsession Exhausts Employees

Meta: A Company in Crisis Despite the Rise of AI

At Meta, the atmosphere is grim. Employees are feeling the full impact of the strategic decisions made by Mark Zuckerberg, who is betting everything on artificial intelligence. Massive layoffs, salary cuts, and the imposition of surveillance software are all measures that weigh heavily on team morale. While Zuckerberg invests billions in AI, it is the employees who are paying the price.

Mark Zuckerberg's choices are not universally accepted within Meta. The year 2026 is shaping up to be a crucial milestone for the company, with Meta's advertising business expected to surpass that of Google for the first time. However, instead of celebrating this advancement, employees are exhausted, as revealed by an in-depth survey from Wired. An Instagram employee confides, "Everyone is unhappy; the only ones who aren't are, literally, the executives."

The Shadow of Layoffs Hangs Over Meta

On May 20, Meta plans to lay off nearly 8,000 people, or 10% of its workforce. This announcement, which leaked internally as early as March, has plunged employees into a stressful and uncertain wait. Many have spent these months trying to demonstrate their added value, hoping to escape this wave of layoffs.

Employees are aware of the stakes: Meta is looking to offset its colossal spending on AI by cutting labor costs. Mark Zuckerberg has even admitted that projects that previously required dozens of people can now be completed in a week by a small team.

To make matters worse, surveillance software has been installed on employees' computers. Named the Model Capability Initiative, it records every keystroke and mouse click, with the aim of training AI models capable of replicating common human tasks. This installation is mandatory and cannot be refused.

Employees thus find themselves, against their will, training the systems that could one day replace them. Meta is not the only company following this logic, but the scale of Zuckerberg's investments—between $125 and $145 billion planned for 2026—gives this situation a particular dimension.

A Divisive Compensation Structure

Employee frustration does not stop there. In February, Meta reduced the portion of stock-based compensation for the second consecutive year, following a first reduction the previous year. As a result, total median compensation has decreased, except for profiles specialized in AI, who are clearly favored.

When employees attempted to voice their dissatisfaction, Chief Technology Officer Andrew Bosworth publicly reprimanded them, according to several accounts. This reaction shocked many and reinforced the feeling that employees' voices no longer truly matter.

To make matters worse, Meta was recently ordered to pay nearly $380 million in damages and civil penalties. Two verdicts in California and New Mexico established the company's liability in harmful experiences faced by its young users. These cases have reignited deep questions among employees, particularly about the meaning of their work and what Meta is truly building.