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Former Meta Executive Says Zuckerberg Prioritized Growth Over Child Safety

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A former Meta engineering director has testified that Mark Zuckerberg encouraged a company culture that prioritized growth and engagement over child safety, as Meta faces a major U.S. trial over alleged harms to young users.

Arturo Bejar, a former Meta employee and longtime critic of the company’s safety practices, told jurors that major product decisions were highly centralized and that changes moved quickly only when Zuckerberg personally made them a priority.

The lawsuit, brought by California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey, accuses Meta of designing Facebook and Instagram in ways that could encourage excessive use among young people while failing to adequately protect them from harassment, mental-health risks and other harms. Another 25 states have also accused Meta of improperly collecting data from children under 13.

Bejar said Meta had internal tools capable of identifying large numbers of suspected underage users but argued the company did not act aggressively enough because stronger enforcement could reduce engagement.

He also criticized features such as usage-break reminders, saying they were ineffective because they were optional and easy to dismiss.

Meta has denied allegations that it intentionally harmed young users and has pointed to extensive investments in safety systems and parental controls.

The six-week trial is being closely watched because it could result in substantial financial penalties and potentially force changes to how Facebook and Instagram operate for younger users.

Zuckerberg Links Meta Layoffs to Massive AI Spending as More Cuts Remain Possible

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Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has directly tied the company’s planned workforce reductions to its escalating artificial intelligence infrastructure investments, underscoring how the race for AI dominance is reshaping corporate labor strategies across Big Tech.

Speaking to employees, Zuckerberg described Meta’s financial structure as increasingly dominated by two major expenses: people and compute infrastructure. As Meta channels larger amounts of capital into AI systems, data centers, and autonomous agent development, the company is reducing headcount to free resources for those priorities.

Meta is preparing to cut approximately 10% of its workforce, with additional layoffs later in the year still possible. Zuckerberg declined to guarantee stability beyond the announced reductions, reinforcing uncertainty as the company transitions toward what it describes as an “AI native” organizational model.

The layoffs come amid broader internal tensions over Meta’s strategic direction, including concerns about employee monitoring systems designed to track user behavior for AI agent development and workflow optimization. While Zuckerberg stated current layoffs are not directly caused by AI replacing jobs, his comments suggest AI infrastructure spending is already materially displacing labor budgets.

This reflects a broader shift in Silicon Valley: rather than AI immediately replacing workers operationally, companies are first reallocating capital from payroll to AI infrastructure, positioning compute capacity as a strategic asset potentially more valuable than workforce expansion.

Meta’s restructuring also highlights a growing industry pattern where AI competition is forcing major firms to prioritize long-term infrastructure leadership over short-term employee retention. Similar dynamics may increasingly shape workforce decisions across technology sectors as companies race to secure AI capabilities.

The company’s future trajectory will likely depend on whether its aggressive AI investments translate into sustainable product growth quickly enough to justify both organizational disruption and rising employee resistance.

Meta Buys AI Startup Manus to Accelerate Artificial Intelligence Push

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Meta is acquiring artificial intelligence startup Manus as the owner of Facebook and Instagram steps up efforts to expand AI capabilities across its platforms. The company did not disclose financial terms, though The Wall Street Journal reported the deal was valued at more than $2 billion.

Manus, a Singapore-based platform with Chinese roots, launched a general-purpose AI agent earlier this year offering paid tools for research, coding and other tasks. Meta said Manus already serves millions of users worldwide and will help deliver AI agents across its consumer and business products, including Meta AI.

Manus CEO Xiao Hong said joining Meta would provide a stronger foundation without changing how the platform operates. Manus will continue selling subscriptions through its own app and website and confirmed it will remain based in Singapore.

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The startup has grown rapidly, announcing earlier this month that it surpassed $100 million in annual recurring revenue just eight months after launch. Early backers reportedly included Tencent Holdings, ZhenFund and HSG.

Meta said there will be no continuing Chinese ownership interests after the deal and that Manus will discontinue operations in China. The move comes as Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg seeks to strengthen the company’s AI position amid competition from Google and OpenAI. In June, Meta invested $14.3 billion in Scale AI and recruited its CEO to help lead advanced AI development.