Lawsuit claims Meta's layoff decisions were made by AI, not humans — and that's now a legal risk

A lawsuit filed in the US claims that Meta's mass layoff decisions were made by artificial intelligence rather than humans: an algorithm generated the lists, and managers approved them without examining individual cases. The plaintiffs consider this a violation of their rights — and the court must now determine who actually made the decision.

The case matters for its question, not its outcome. Companies use AI ever more widely in personnel decisions — from hiring to performance evaluation — and the line between "the algorithm suggested" and "the algorithm decided" blurs imperceptibly. When it's about sorting resumes, that's an inconvenience; when it's about layoffs, it becomes a matter of labor law, discrimination and provability of motives.

For an employer in Kazakhstan the rule is simple: AI may prepare the data for personnel decisions, but a human must make them and be able to explain them. If a tool recommends parting with an employee, the manager needs their own verifiable grounds, fixed in writing. That discipline protects not only the employees but the company itself in a labor dispute.