Meta ends tokenmaxxing, starts testing agentic AI Hatch

Almost a year ago, Meta said workers would be graded on “AI-driven impact,” which in practice meant evaluating how much they used chatbots and agents. That led to labels like “AI Native,” “AI First,” or “AI Enabled,” and a July lawsuit from about two dozen employees who said they were unfairly penalized after layoffs in May. Meta has denied the allegations.

This week's guidance restores focus on employee impact, with Meta spokesperson Tracy Clayton saying the company always evaluated workers based on contributions. Engineers were told Meta “will not use AI adoption dashboards or token counts to evaluate impact.” However, Meta still encourages—but doesn't require—use of Hatch, and workers say token consumption continues to surge.

If Hatch boosts productivity as intended, some employees fear more job cuts. Last week, Reuters reported Meta geared up for another major layoff round beyond the 8,000 May cuts, but called it off due to AI-related software bugs and slower agent development. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said further mass layoffs are not expected this year.