Meta has reduced its annual stock award distribution by approximately 5% for the majority of its employees. This move signals CEO Mark Zuckerberg's commitment to heavily funding the company's artificial intelligence initiatives.
Big Tech firms, including Meta, are engaged in a fierce competition to develop massive data centers, aiming to gain an edge in the booming AI sector. Meta previously announced expectations for capital expenditures between $115 billion and $135 billion through 2026.
This marks the second consecutive year Meta has cut equity-based awards for its workforce. Last year, the company implemented a roughly 10% reduction, which reportedly caused internal concern.
In related developments, Meta recently laid off about 10% of its Reality Labs division, reallocating resources from virtual reality products to wearable technology. The Reality Labs unit, responsible for Meta's metaverse ambitions, has incurred over $70 billion in losses since 2021.
The company is also constructing multiple gigawatt-scale data centers across the U.S. Additionally, Meta appointed Dina Powell McCormick, an ally of former President Donald Trump, as president and vice chairman to foster government and investor partnerships for its AI projects.