In yet another bold pivot toward automation, Meta Platforms has begun replacing parts of its privacy and compliance team with artificial intelligence systems, an efficiency-driven move that’s already raising eyebrows across the tech and regulatory worlds (CNBC, 2025). The change, revealed through internal memos and confirmed by multiple reports, comes as part of Meta’s broader reorganization strategy and reflects a deeper shift in how one of the world’s most influential tech firms thinks about safeguarding user data.
“During this time, your internal access will be removed and you do not need to do any additional work for Meta,” CNBC quoted a message from Meta as saying. “You may use this time to search for another role at Meta.”
The layoffs affect an estimated 600 employees across Meta’s AI division, including about 100 workers in its risk review unit, the group responsible for identifying privacy threats and ensuring Meta’s products comply with regulations such as the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s mandates. According to internal communications cited by The New York Times, Meta executives say the aim is to “reduce decision-making friction” and accelerate the product pipeline by cutting layers of human oversight (New York Times, 2025). “Fewer conversations will be required to make a decision,” read a memo from Meta’s chief AI officer, in a line that encapsulates the company’s evolving priorities.
But the decision to automate privacy oversight has sparked concern, not just inside Meta but among regulators, watchdogs, and privacy advocates. Michel Protti, Meta’s chief privacy and compliance officer for product, claimed “by moving from bespoke, manual reviews to a more consistent and automated process, we’ve been able to deliver more accurate and reliable compliance outcomes across Meta” (Entrepreneur, 2025). He framed the shift as necessary to keep pace with innovation while maintaining high standards. But critics argue that replacing human auditors, especially in roles designed to scrutinize products for ethical and regulatory risks, could compromise Meta’s ability to detect and prevent nuanced or emerging privacy threats (Business & Human Rights Resource Center, 2025)..
The implications are especially significant given Meta’s history. The company, then still operating as Facebook, was fined $5 billion by the FTC in 2019 for misleading users about how their personal data was handled (FTC, 2019). As part of that landmark settlement, Meta agreed to implement enhanced human-led privacy reviews. Now that much of that review is being handed over to algorithms, questions arise about whether the company is violating the spirit, if not the letter, of its agreement with regulators.
There’s also the matter of trust. While automated systems excel at scanning for known threats and inconsistencies, they struggle with ambiguity, precisely the kind of grey area where human intuition is essential. Issues like consent, data misuse, and ethical risk often rely on context, not just code. Several former Meta employees told reporters that the dismantling of the risk team was one of the few remaining buffers between product development and potential privacy disasters. Their replacement by AI may streamline compliance workflows, but it also leaves the system vulnerable to blind spots.
And yet, despite assurances, the broader tech industry is watching with a mix of fascination and unease. If Meta, a company under constant regulatory scrutiny, feels comfortable sidelining human privacy reviewers in favor of AI, what does that signal to others? Will this become the norm for Silicon Valley’s biggest players? Or will regulators step in to set new rules around AI’s role in compliance?
What’s clear is that this move places Meta at the center of a critical debate about the future of tech governance. In the quest for speed and scale, it’s betting on machines to police privacy. But the real question remains: can algorithms truly safeguard the rights of billions, or will efficiency come at the cost of accountability?