In today’s Digest, we cover Meta planning to begin a new round of layoffs on 20th May, the White House and Anthropic holding “productive” AI talks, and ByteDance’s profit being hit by AI costs despite an overseas surge.

Meta to cut 8,000 jobs

Meta Platforms is preparing a new round of layoffs beginning 20th May, with the first wave expected to cut around 10% of its global workforce, according to people familiar with the plans. The company had approximately 79,000 employees at the end of 2025. Additional reductions are reportedly being considered for the second half of the year, though the scope and timing remain uncertain as executives evaluate ongoing developments in AI and their impact on operations.

The move would mark Meta’s largest workforce reduction since its sweeping cuts of roughly 21,000 jobs across 2022 and 2023. Meta Platforms declined to comment on the matter. 

White House & Anthropic hold productive AI talks

The White House has described recent talks with Anthropic as “productive and constructive”, signalling a potential thaw in relations despite the AI firm’s ongoing lawsuit against the US Department of Defense. CEO Dario Amodei met with treasury secretary Scott Bessent and chief of staff Susie Wiles, just weeks after the administration had criticised the company. The meeting follows the release of Anthropic’s Claude Mythos preview, an advanced AI tool reportedly capable of outperforming humans in certain cyber-security and hacking tasks.

In a statement, the White House said discussions focused on opportunities for collaboration as well as shared frameworks to manage the challenges of scaling the technology. It added that the meeting explored how to balance continued innovation with safety considerations, underscoring the growing policy emphasis on governance alongside AI development.

The meeting comes two months after Anthropic filed legal action challenging its designation as a supply chain risk by the Defense Department, a classification it claims was retaliatory after refusing to grant unrestricted access to its tools over concerns about surveillance and autonomous weapons. Despite the dispute, the renewed engagement suggests the US government may view Anthropic’s technology as too critical to sideline.

ByteDance profit hit by AI costs despite overseas surge

ByteDance reported a nearly 50% year-on-year increase in international revenue in 2025. Overseas operations accounted for more than 30% of total revenue, up from around 25% in 2024 and the highest share on record. Much of the growth was driven by e-commerce, particularly the rapid expansion of TikTok Shop, where sales climbed close to 70%. The figures underscore ByteDance’s accelerating push beyond its domestic market, leveraging its global platforms to scale commerce and advertising revenues.

However, the company’s net profit fell by more than 70% over the same period, reflecting a surge in spending on AI. ByteDance allocated roughly USD$20bn (£15.8bn) in capital expenditure in 2025, with the majority directed toward AI, and has earmarked a further USD$22.7bn (£17.93bn) for infrastructure investment in 2026.