Meta lays off 600 employees within AI unit

Core Insights - Meta is laying off approximately 600 employees within its artificial intelligence unit to streamline operations and reduce layers of management [1] - The layoffs were confirmed by Meta's Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang, who was appointed as part of Meta's $14.3 billion investment in Scale AI [1][2] - The affected employees are from various AI infrastructure units, including the Fundamental Artificial Intelligence Research unit and other product-related roles [1] Investment and Strategy - Meta has been heavily investing in AI to compete with rivals such as OpenAI and Google, allocating billions towards infrastructure and recruitment [2] - Recently, Meta announced a $27 billion deal with Blue Owl Capital to fund the development of its Hyperion data center in rural Louisiana, which is expected to be significantly large [3] - CEO Mark Zuckerberg indicated that the data center will cover a substantial part of Manhattan's footprint [3]