What’s happening inside Meta’s AI division? Employees say morale is at rock bottom

Meta’s AI division is facing severe morale issues, with employees describing frustration over restructuring and unpopular role changes. Workers in the Applied AI unit—comprising 6,500 engineers and product managers—report reduced autonomy, repetitive tasks like coding problem creation, and uncertainty about career progression. The changes coincide with Meta’s broader AI push, including workforce cuts affecting 8,000 employees. Tensions escalated during an internal livestream when an attendee interrupted a presentation with a profanity-laced outburst directed at Meta’s AI leadership. Employees told WIRED the incident reflected broader dissatisfaction with the Applied AI team’s formation and workload, which they say lacks creative engagement compared to past projects. Beyond Applied AI, Meta’s restructuring has increased stress across divisions like Instagram and data center engineering. Over 1,600 employees signed a petition opposing a program monitoring workplace interactions for AI training, though Meta later modified it to allow pauses and exemptions. Senior leadership, including Chief Product Officer Chris Cox, acknowledged the challenges in an internal meeting, calling the period ‘difficult’ and ‘brutal.’ Cox urged employees to balance AI advancements with Meta’s core mission of serving 2 billion Instagram users. The unrest comes as Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg prioritizes AI competition with OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google. Employees fear the changes may disconnect them from Meta’s product-building culture while increasing administrative burdens. Meta has not publicly addressed the specific employee concerns reported by WIRED.