Sen. Bernie Sanders criticizes Meta's layoff of roughly 8,000 employees while the company accelerates AI spending, questioning the broader impact on American workers.

Meta laid off roughly 8,000 employees, representing nearly 10% of the company's workforce. The company employed more than 78,000 workers at the end of 2025 and had already announced plans to eliminate thousands of roles and close roughly 6,000 open positions.

Meta expects to spend between $115 billion and $135 billion in 2026, with much of the investment tied to AI and data center expansion. Around 7,000 workers were reassigned to newly created AI-focused organizations.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, as ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, called on workers affected by AI and robotics to submit personal stories, stating: 'If Mark Zuckerberg is willing to lay off 10% of his own employees, what do you think his AI will do to the average American worker?'