Compute Won the Budget

Mark Zuckerberg told Meta employees the 8,000 layoffs starting May 20 exist because compute infrastructure costs have exploded — not because AI replaced workers. Meta’s 2026 capex guidance is now $125–$145 billion, nearly double last year. Across Meta, Google, Amazon, and Microsoft the combined AI spend sits around $725 billion, up 77% year over year. This issue gives you the memo decoder — how to tell whether your next reorg is a productivity story or a substitution story, and what each one means for your job.