Did Meta’s AI Plan Backfire?

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly launched Project OT earlier this year to transform the company into an “AI native” organisation. According to a Reuters investigation, the plan explored reducing the size of some teams by as much as 60% in two phases and relying heavily on autonomous AI agents for routine work. Meta carried out an initial round of workforce cuts in May, but later abandoned the planned second wave of layoffs.

The strategy reportedly ran into problems as AI agents failed to deliver the expected productivity gains, while employees strongly resisted the restructuring. Internal data cited by Reuters showed that code changes increased sharply, but user-facing product improvements rose much more slowly. Meta has not abandoned its AI ambitions and continues to invest heavily in AI infrastructure and technology, while shifting its emphasis toward using AI to augment employees rather than broadly replacing them.