Mark Zuckerberg has rejected warnings that artificial intelligence will wipe out jobs, telling a live audience in the US that fears of mass AI‑driven unemployment are misplaced, even as Meta cuts thousands of roles across its own workforce this year. Speaking on Complex's 'Idea Generation' show, the Meta chief executive argued that AI could actually create 'more jobs in the future, not less' if it is built to enhance workers rather than replace them.
The interview comes only weeks after Meta shed roughly 10% of its staff in May, a move that internally affected about 8,000 roles across Integrity, cybersecurity and content design teams. In a memo to employees at the time, Meta said the layoffs were part of 'our continued effort to run the company more efficiently and to allow us to offset the other investments we're making,' a clear nod to the billions the company has been funnelling into AI research and infrastructure. That timing makes Zuckerberg's newly upbeat line on work and automation feel, at the very least, awkward.
