Meta cut 8,000 jobs. CEO Mark Zuckerberg says AI is creating more work—but not inside Meta

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says artificial intelligence is creating jobs—not wiping them out. But the roles he is talking about aren't inside Meta's offices.

The tech giant laid off around 8,000 employees, reassigned another 7,000 workers to AI projects, and is preparing to spend $130 billion to $145 billion on AI infrastructure in 2026. While thousands of corporate jobs disappeared, Zuckerberg argues AI is generating employment through the massive infrastructure needed to power the technology.

The catch? Those new jobs are largely for construction workers, electricians, cooling engineers and power infrastructure specialists building the enormous data centres AI requires.

AI needs buildings before it needs bots

Meta already operates or is building 32 data centres around the world. The company plans to double its computing capacity to 7 gigawatts this year and then double it again to 14 gigawatts by 2027.

That expansion has triggered a hiring spree far from Silicon Valley, creating demand for workers pouring concrete, installing electrical systems and building power infrastructure.

"All the work around AI has net created a lot of jobs because there's all this infrastructure that needs to get created," Zuckerberg told the Wall Street Journal hours before Meta's June quarter earnings.

He also argued that fears of mass AI-driven unemployment have not unfolded the way many expected.

Meta employees saw a different reality

Inside Meta, however, the AI transition looked very different.

The company's AI-first restructuring resulted in about 10% of its workforce being laid off. Employees across multiple countries reportedly received termination emails before dawn, with some workers losing their jobs only weeks after being hired.

Colleagues reportedly marked departures with salad emojis as a quiet sign of respect, while offices remained largely empty after HR instructed employees to work from home during the layoffs.

The frustration had been building even before the cuts. More than 1,000 employees had signed a petition objecting to Meta's AI data collection programme, which reportedly tracked keystrokes, mouse movements and screen activity on company laptops to train AI models. Workers assigned to the new Applied AI and Engineering team were also informed that participation was mandatory.

Billions poured into AI

Meta's spending reflects a much bigger race unfolding across Big Tech.

Combined AI investments by major technology companies are expected to cross $700 billion in 2026. Alphabet is projected to spend around $205 billion, while Microsoft has guided for roughly $175 billion as companies race to build AI infrastructure.

Despite Meta's aggressive investment, investors remain focused on whether those billions will generate returns.

The company's second-quarter free cash flow plunged 91% to $784 million, its weakest level since late 2022. Although revenue jumped 28% to $60.8 billion, Meta shares still fell 10% in extended trading after the results.

Computing power could become Meta's next business

Zuckerberg also revealed that Meta's growing computing capacity is attracting outside interest.

According to him, companies are offering to lease Meta's AI compute at a premium, and the company is reportedly in early discussions with Anthropic about such arrangements.

Even so, Zuckerberg rejected the idea of renting out large portions of that capacity.

"My personal bet is that the people who invest in this are going to be rewarded," he said, adding that selling compute for short-term profits would be shortsighted when Meta needs it to train future AI models and build personal AI assistants.

Two truths can exist at the same time

Zuckerberg's claim is not entirely wrong. AI is undeniably creating jobs—but many of them are on construction sites, in power plants and around massive data centres rather than inside technology companies.

For thousands of former Meta employees, however, AI's rise came with pink slips instead of promotions.

The debate over AI and jobs may not be as simple as whether technology creates or destroys employment. Increasingly, it appears to be about which jobs disappear, which new ones emerge—and who gets left behind.