Meta has laid off approximately 8,000 employees in a single-day reduction on May 20, 2025, as part of a strategic shift towards AI-driven operations. Employees were notified via email at 4 a.m., marking an 11% reduction in its global workforce. Concurrently, Meta has implemented the Model Capability Initiative, deploying AI monitoring tools on the computers of retained employees to record their activities for training internal AI systems. CTO Andrew Bosworth stated that employees cannot opt out of this data collection on company devices. This move has sparked backlash, with over 1,500 employees signing a protest petition against what they describe as "Employee Data Exploitation." The initiative aims to train AI agents to eventually replace human roles, with humans relegated to guidance and review tasks. This development reflects a broader trend in the tech industry, where companies are increasingly investing in AI to replace human labor.