Barclays is latest to redirect spending toward AI as it trims its workforce

The cost of building out the infrastructure needed to satisfy booming demand for artificial intelligence is changing the way major companies allocate resources. That can mean an end to some jobs once done by humans. Yet in many cases it means repurposing money once spent on workers so that more capital can be devoted to boosting AI capabilities. Just how much money is being spent on AI is a hot topic as fears of a bubble in the sector grow, but the potential impact on workers in some sectors is clear.

Here's a look at some of the companies that have announced layoffs or hiring reductions this year that are tied in some way to massive spending on AI.

The U.K. bank and financial services company revealed in a quarterly financial report this week that it is looking to cut 5,000 jobs, or about 5% of its workforce.

The company said that it was seeking “organisational simplification and technology change efficiency driven by AI.” Approximately 60% of the cuts will be from support functions, including developers.

Financial institutions are among the most active in deploying AI, in many cases at the expense of workers. Norway's DNB and Commerzbank in Germany have also announced job cuts in parallel with a push into AI.

Kroger said last week that it will lay off 3,000 corporate employees over the next three years as the national grocery chain ramps up its use of artificial intelligence.

“Technology is reshaping what’s possible,” CEO Greg Foran wrote in a memo to employees. “The way work gets done is changing across every industry; we must adapt and take advantage of technology. We need to adopt capabilities, reduce duplicative work and look closely at where work is best fit to be done.”

Kroger last month outlined its AI strategy, meant “to improve the customer experience, make work easier for associates and produce better business outcomes.”

The Cincinnati company is the largest standalone U.S. supermarket chain with 409,000 employees and more than 2,700 stores operating under various brands, including Ralphs, King Soopers, Smith’s and Fred Meyer.

The company that runs Facebook and Instagram said it would lay off about 8,000 workers, or about 10% of its workforce, as it continues to ramp up spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure and highly paid AI-expert hires.

The company said in April that it was making the cuts for the sake of efficiency and to allow new investments in parts of its business, as first reported by Bloomberg, which also said the company will leave about 6,000 jobs unfilled.

Meta had already warned investors that its 2026 expenses will grow significantly — to as much as $169 billion — driven by infrastructure costs and employee compensation, particularly for the artificial intelligence experts it’s been hiring.

Software giant Microsoft is offering voluntary buyouts to thousands of its U.S. employees.

The company planned to make the offers in early May to about 8,750 people, or 7% of its U.S. workforce, according to two people familiar with the plan who were not authorized to speak about it publicly.

Microsoft has spent billions of dollars operating an ever-expanding global network of data centers powering cloud computing services, AI systems and its own suite of productivity tools, including the AI assistant Copilot.

The U.K.-based bank is planning to cut more than 15% of its back office employees by 2030.

Standard Chartered said in May that it was “scaling practical uses of automation, advanced analytics and artificial intelligence to streamline processes, improve decision‑making and enhance both client service and internal efficiency.”

The cryptocurrency trading platform is cutting approximately 14% of its workforce partly due to AI.

In a blog post, CEO Brian Armstrong said that AI was changing the way that Coinbase worked.

“Over the past year, I’ve watched engineers use AI to ship in days what used to take a team weeks,” he wrote. “Non-technical teams are now shipping production code and many of our workflows are being automated. The pace of what’s possible with a small, focused team has changed dramatically, and it’s accelerating every day.”

Armstrong said that the company needed to take action.

“We are adjusting early and deliberately to rebuild Coinbase to be lean, fast, and AI-native,” he wrote.

Pinterest announced in January that it planned to lay off under 15% of its workforce as part of a broader restructuring as the image-sharing platform pivots more of its money to artificial intelligence.

In a securities filing, the company said that it was making the cuts to support “transformation initiatives” — which include reallocating resources to AI-focused roles and prioritizing AI-powered products. It said it was also working to reshape its “sales and go-to-market approach.”

The owner of social media platform Snapchat is eliminating about 16% of its global workforce, or about 1,000 jobs.

“The headcount reduction is designed to further streamline our operations and reallocate resources toward our highest-priority initiatives, leveraging increased operational efficiencies to accelerate our path toward net-income profitability,” the company said in a regulatory filing.

CEO Evan Spiegel said in a letter to staff in April that another 300 open roles would not be filled.

Financial technology company Block is laying off more than 4,000 of its 10,000 plus employees, reconfiguring to capitalize on its use of artificial intelligence.

“The core thesis is simple. Intelligence tools have changed what it means to build and run a company,” Jack Dorsey said in a letter to shareholders in Block, the parent company to online payment platforms such as Square and Cash App. “A significantly smaller team, using the tools we’re building, can do more and do it better,” he said.

Dorsey’s comments explicitly naming AI as a key driver behind the decision were also posted on X, or Twitter, a company he co-founded.

The announcement has sent shares of the company sharply higher this year, up 19%, reversing a 12% decline in the previous year.

FILE - A Kroger grocery store is seen in Monroe, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean, File)

FILE - People attend a showcase event of the company's AI assistant, Copilot, ahead of the annual Build developer conference at Microsoft headquarters, Monday, May 20, 2024, in Redmond, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)

An official in Tigray’s new federal-backed administration urged rebel fighters to lay down their weapons Friday, hours after a rebel commander called for continued resistance despite losing the northern Ethiopian region’s capital.

The calls came nearly three weeks after rebels trying to overthrow the government lost control of Mekelle, Tigray's capital. Government-allied fighters entered Mekelle on Oct. 4 after the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, or TPLF, withdrew.

Redae Halefom Woldeselassie, the caretaker administration’s chief executive for political and public mobilization, said rebel forces were collapsing and urged fighters to enter a disarmament and reintegration program.

“This is not the time for settling scores, I call upon you to return to your homes and continue your civilian lives,” he said in Mekelle.

He dismissed the prospect of the rebels retaking the city and portrayed the conflict as serving a small group of leaders rather than the people of Tigray.

Hours earlier, Lt. Gen. Fisseha Kidanu, who was identified in a television broadcast as commander of the Tigray army, pledged to reverse recent military setbacks.

“Local militias across the region — alongside all volunteers joining the resistance — are expected to engage the enemy,” he said Thursday on Tigray Broadcast Media, a new rebel television station. His location was not disclosed.

Fisseha urged attacks on government-held positions despite his opponents’ advantages in drones and heavy weapons. The TPLF has also claimed to have inflicted heavy losses on government forces. The Associated Press could not independently verify those claims.

Ethiopia’s government subsequently established a six-month caretaker administration promising to restore services, help displaced people return and prepare for elections.

The government’s allies include the Tigray Peace Force, comprising former members of the TPLF’s armed wing — a division within Tigrayan forces that has complicated the renewed conflict.

Redae said Ethiopian troops and allied forces were conducting joint security operations, including measures to prevent looting. He promised preparations for displaced residents to return but gave no timetable.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, speaking Monday to the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation, accused the TPLF of acquiring weapons and forcibly recruiting young people instead of disarming under the November 2022 Pretoria peace agreement. He said his government had done everything within its capacity to implement the accord.

At Ayder Hospital in Mekelle, Luel Berhanu, 22, and Samuel Belay, 20, said they were loading goats onto a truck in Finariwa, about 80 kilometers (49 miles) south of the city, when a strike hit around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday.

They said four civilians were killed and about six people wounded. The AP could not independently verify the casualties or establish who carried out the attack.

Luel said the truck’s headlights were on and a drone was hovering overhead shortly before the explosion. He said the blast severely injured his right eye and right arm, leaving him unable to see through that eye.

Samuel said they were working as day laborers loading the animals.

Hospital footage showed Luel with a bloodstained bandage covering his right eye and dressings around his shoulder and arm. Samuel lay on his side with an intravenous line attached to his arm.

A witness interviewed by the AP reported movements earlier that day by fighters identified as Agew Shengo, a militia that has previously fought alongside Tigrayan forces in neighboring Amhara region. Luel said rebel forces had been in the area several hours before the strike but none were present when it occurred.

The renewed fighting has effectively shattered the Pretoria agreement, which ended the region's devastating 2020-2022 war. That conflict caused an estimated 500,000 civilian deaths through violence, famine and collapsed health services, according to researchers at Ghent University in Belgium.

Magnus Taylor, deputy Horn of Africa director at the International Crisis Group, told the AP last week that controlling towns and roads would not necessarily secure rural areas where Tigrayan fighters regrouped during the previous war.

“We shouldn’t imagine that this conflict is completely over just because the TPLF has lost Mekelle,” he said.

Amir Aman Kiyaro reported from Hamburg, Germany. Filmon Equar Hailu reported from Mekelle, Ethiopia.

In this photo taken with a smartphone Getachew Reda, center, a former Tigray leader and adviser to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, arrives at the airport in Mekelle, Ethiopia, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Filmon Equar Hailu)

In this photo taken with a smartphone, supporters gather to welcome former Tigray leader Getachew Reda in Mekelle, Ethiopia, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Filmon Equar Hailu)