Meta Platforms is preparing to eliminate more than 10% of the roughly 15,000-strong Reality Labs division, equating to over 1,500 positions. The reduction is expected to be announced this week and follows earlier rounds of cuts in April and December. Executives are considering as much as a 30% budget reduction for Reality Labs in 2026, signaling a strategic reallocation of resources toward higher-return initiatives. Since 2020, Reality Labs has accumulated over $70 billion in operating losses, and this move is intended to rein in costs and focus development on wearables such as smart glasses and core AI product lines.

In a post on the Threads platform, CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled Meta Compute, a multiyear initiative to build world-class AI infrastructure. The company plans to add tens of gigawatts of dedicated power capacity this decade and scale to hundreds of gigawatts over time, positioning energy footprint expansion as a strategic advantage. Three senior executives will spearhead the effort: Santosh Janardhan overseeing global datacenter architecture and silicon programs, Daniel Gross leading long-term capacity strategy and supplier partnerships, and Dina Powell McCormick coordinating government and finance relations. This infrastructure push underpins Meta’s goal to host and train next-generation generative AI models internally rather than rely on third-party cloud providers.

Meta is overhauling its employee review process with the Checkpoint performance program, set to launch for the 2026 cycle in mid-year. The new system simplifies ratings into four tiers—Outstanding (top 20%, 200% bonus multiplier), Excellent (70%, 115%), Needs Improvement (7%, 50%) and Not Meeting Expectations (3%, 0%)—and adds a Meta Award tier offering a 300% multiplier for truly exceptional impact. The company expects roughly 90% of staff to fall into the Outstanding or Excellent categories, reflecting its high-performance culture. This shift aims to align compensation more closely with measurable contributions and accelerate feedback loops to boost productivity.

Meta has appointed Dina Powell McCormick, a former deputy national security advisor under President Trump and assistant secretary of state under President Bush, as president and vice chairman. In this newly created role, she will ensure that Meta’s multibillion-dollar investments in AI, infrastructure and strategic partnerships execute against corporate objectives. Her responsibilities include guiding long-term financing strategies, fostering government and industry collaborations, and expanding Meta’s investment capacity. The hire underscores Meta’s commitment to securing regulatory support and financing for its rapid AI and data center expansion plans.