Key Takeaways
- Meta laid off 600 AI employees, then encouraged staff to use an AI chatbot, Metamate, for performance reviews.
- The tool scans internal data to auto-generate self-assessments and manager reviews.
- Company leadership calls the job cuts necessary for agility, while adoption of AI-assisted reviews grows.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is facing internal controversy after encouraging employees to use an AI chatbot for performance reviews, just days after laying off 600 staff from its AI division.
The job cuts affected the AI infrastructure, the Fundamental AI Research (FAIR) team, and other product groups. This was part of CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s “year of efficiency” to reduce bureaucracy. The subsequent push for AI-assisted reviews has raised questions about the future of work at the company.
What is Metamate?
Meta’s internal AI platform, Metamate, uses generative AI to scan internal documents, summarize employee achievements, aggregate feedback, and compile detailed self-assessments. It is designed to save time on the annual review process.
Joseph Spisak, Product Director at Meta’s Superintelligence Labs, endorsed the tool. He stated Metamate can search all my docs and what I’ve done and summarise what I’ve done for the year and my accomplishments and feedback on me,
calling it great.
He described it as a personal historian that compiles data in seconds.
Leadership Justifies Cuts as AI Adoption Grows
While not mandatory, use of Metamate for self-reviews and manager assessments is increasing. Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang reportedly defended the recent layoffs as a necessary step to create a more agile organization and give remaining staff greater impact.
Meta is currently scaling its AI efforts, particularly with the Meta Superintelligence Lab (MSL), as it trails behind competitors like and in the AI race.
