iWorld
Vice Media plunges into bankruptcy, seeks investor support for revival
Mumbai: It looks like the big-talking Shane Smith-promoted Vice Media group is making its way to the junkyard. Once valued at $5.7 billion, the media firm has recently filed for bankruptcy and is seeking protection under Chapter XI. Its assets are being sold to a consortium of its lenders that includes Fortress Investment Group, Soros Fund Management, and Monroe Capital.
On Monday, Vice Media filed for bankruptcy. It is facing financial challenges due to the changing landscape of digital media. Despite this bankruptcy filing, Vice Media intends to continue its daily operations without any major disruptions.
The bankruptcy filing includes Vice Media and its affiliated entities, such as the ad agency Virtue, the Pulse Films Division, and the women-focused site Refinery29. These entities are all part of the bankruptcy proceedings.
In an effort to acquire Vice Media, a group of investors, including Fortress Investment Group and Soros Fund Management, has submitted a bid of $225 million. This amount is expected to cover existing loans and help absorb some of the company’s significant liabilities. If the bid is successful, it could provide Vice Media with the opportunity for a fresh start.
Throughout the sale process, Hozefa Lokhandwala and Bruce Dixon, the co-chief executives at Vice Media, will continue to remain in their positions. The sale is anticipated to be finalized within the next three months, paving the way for a potential new beginning for Vice Media.
iWorld
Meta plans 8,000 layoffs in new AI-led restructuring wave
First phase from May 20 may cut 10 per cent workforce amid AI pivot.
MUMBAI: At Meta, the future may be artificial but the cuts are very real. The social media giant is reportedly preparing a fresh round of layoffs, with an initial wave expected to impact around 8,000 employees as it doubles down on its artificial intelligence ambitions. According to a Reuters report, the first phase of job cuts is slated to begin on May 20, targeting roughly 10 per cent of Meta’s global workforce. With nearly 79,000 employees on its rolls as of December 31, the move marks one of the company’s most significant workforce reductions in recent years.
And this may only be the beginning. Sources indicate that additional layoffs are being planned for the second half of the year, although the scale and timing remain fluid, likely to be shaped by how Meta’s AI capabilities evolve in the coming months. Earlier reports had suggested that total cuts in 2026 could reach 20 per cent or more of its workforce.
The restructuring comes as chief executive Mark Zuckerberg continues to steer the company towards an AI-first operating model, committing hundreds of billions of dollars to the transition. Internally, this shift is already visible: teams within Reality Labs have been reorganised, engineers have been moved into a newly formed Applied AI unit, and a Meta Small Business division has been created to align with broader structural changes.
The trend is hardly isolated. Across the tech sector, companies are trimming headcount while investing aggressively in automation. Amazon, for instance, has reportedly cut around 30,000 corporate roles nearly 10 per cent of its white-collar workforce citing efficiency gains driven by AI. Data from Layoffs.fyi shows over 73,000 tech employees have already lost jobs this year, compared with 153,000 in all of 2024.
For Meta, the move echoes its earlier “year of efficiency” in 2022–23, when about 21,000 roles were eliminated amid slowing growth and market pressures. This time, however, the backdrop is different. The company is financially stronger, generating over $200 billion in revenue and $60 billion in profit last year, with shares up 3.68 per cent year-to-date though still below last summer’s peak.
That contrast underlines the shift underway. These layoffs are less about survival and more about reinvention. As Meta restructures itself around AI from autonomous coding agents to advanced machine learning systems, the question is no longer whether the company will change, but how many roles will be left unchanged when it does.
