AI infrastructure will provides Meta with a "strategic advantage," Zuckerberg said. He once said almost the exact same thing about the metaverse.

Now, the tech giant appears to be making good on that promise. On Monday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the launch of Meta Compute, a new initiative designed to bolster the tech giant’s AI infrastructure. Zuckerberg said the company intended to drastically expand its energy footprint in the coming years.

Reality Labs, the business behind Meta’s Meta Quest headsets and Ray-Ban Smart Glasses, has roughly 15,000 employees.

The layoffs are set to be announced this week and would affect Meta’s work on the metaverse, as the company spends heavily on building artificial intelligence.

Meta has been investing heavily in infrastructure to fuel its AI "superintelligence" ambitions. The company also recently announced three agreements to buy massive amounts of nuclear power to help power its data centers. Zuckerberg has previously said he expects Meta to spend $600 billion on AI infrastructure and jobs by 2028.

Meta hired former Trump national security adviser Dina Powell McCormick as its new president, the latest move by the company aligning itself with President Donald Trump in the wake of his 2024 election.

Meta has announced its "Meta Compute" initiative to build artificial intelligence infrastructure and oversee the social media company's global fleet of data centers and supplier partnerships in its pursuit of superintelligence.

Meta's new Checkpoint program restructures worker ratings and incentives, rewarding top performers with up to 300% of their base bonuses.