Meta’s push for AI dominance, with plans to spend up to $145 billion on AI investments this year, has fueled layoffs, employee surveillance, and internal unrest. Since early 2025, Meta cut 10 percent of its workforce, some 8,000 jobs, and reshuffled another 7,000 employees. An internal AI training initiative, the Model Capability Initiative, rolled out in April and suspended on June 22, captured clicks, keystrokes, and browsing activity of US employees to train AI agents, sparking accusations of surveillance. More than 1,600 employees signed a petition calling for it to end, with some likening the company to a "data extraction factory.” The pause came after private conversations and performance data inadvertently became accessible to all staff, risking attention from European regulators. A Meta spokesperson said the program was designed with privacy safeguards and is paused while investigating, noting no indication of improper data access. Despite the turmoil, Meta’s net income rose to more than $26 billion in the first three months of 2026, with advertising making up nearly 98 percent of its revenue.