Twenty-six Meta employees have sued the company, alleging that AI-assisted systems used in its layoff process unfairly disadvantaged workers with disabilities, medical conditions, pregnancies, or family-care responsibilities.
The lawsuit was filed Monday in federal court in Oakland, California. The employees, who are proceeding anonymously, claim Meta considered factors such as productivity scores and employees' use of AI tools when deciding which jobs to eliminate. According to the complaint, this approach penalized workers whose medical leave or caregiving obligations reduced their recorded activity.
The plaintiffs were informed in May that their employment would end beginning July 22. They are asking the court to temporarily halt the layoffs while their discrimination and retaliation claims proceed through individual arbitration.
Meta rejected the allegations.
"Workforce management and organizational decisions were and are made by people, not AI," a company spokesperson said Tuesday, adding that the claims have no merit.
The case may be the first lawsuit against a major U.S. employer challenging the alleged use of artificial intelligence in selecting employees for layoffs.
Meta eliminated approximately 10% of its global workforce in May - nearly 8,000 positions - and had reportedly considered additional reductions. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg has since said he does not anticipate further company-wide layoffs this year.
The restructuring comes as Meta significantly expands its investment in artificial intelligence and incorporates AI agents into both its products and internal operations.
The lawsuit alleges that Meta used several AI-supported systems to evaluate and rank employees for termination. These reportedly included "Metamate," an internal large-language-model assistant; an employee-trained "second brain" that monitored workplace communications and documents; and a productivity score generated by analyzing activity such as keystrokes, screen content, emails, and browsing history.
The plaintiffs argue that these systems disproportionately affected employees who had disabilities, took protected medical leave, were pregnant, or needed time away to care for relatives. They accuse Meta of violating federal and state laws prohibiting workplace discrimination and retaliation.
They also allege that Meta failed to assess its AI systems for discriminatory bias, as required under recently enacted regulations in California and New York City.
The employees are based in six states, including California and New York, as well as the District of Columbia.
Based on reporting by Daniel Wiessner for Reuters.
Tyler Durden Tue, 07/14/2026 - 20:30Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com
Axios reported Monday that President Trump gave Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) his support for an attack on Yemen ahead of Saudi Arabia’s bombing of the Sanaa International Airport, which shattered a years-long truce between Riyadh and the Houthis.
US officials told Axios reporter Barak Ravid that Riyadh sought support for the attack during conversations with US officials last week, which included a Friday conversation between Trump and MbS. The report said MbS "asked Trump for his backing for a military action against the Houthis and received it."
White House imageThe US backed a brutal Saudi/UAE-led war against the Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, from 2015 to 2022, throughout the entire first Trump administration.
The US provided significant military and intelligence support to the Saudis, meaning the US could have provided support for Monday’s attack on the Sanaa airport.
Ravid noted that the fact that MbS sought support from Trump before launching the strike suggested he’s preparing for the potential of it leading to a wider conflict with the Houthis and that Riyadh will need US military and diplomatic support.
In response to the Saudi strikes on the Sanaa airport, Ansar Allah launched missile and drone attacks against a Saudi airport and warned aircraft to stay out of Saudi airspace until the blockade on the Sanaa airport is lifted.
The Saudis bombed the Sanaa airport to prevent the landing of a flight from Iran that was carrying a Yemeni delegation that attended the funeral of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei. After the strikes, the plane was able to land in the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah.
The tensions began when a plane from Iran picked up the delegation from Sanaa earlier in the month, marking the first known Iranian flight to the airport in more than 10 years, as the Saudis have maintained a partial blockade on the airport despite the 2022 ceasefire.
The moment Saudi airstrikes hit Sana’a International Airport. pic.twitter.com/syYhcpz7SK
— Ariel Oseran أريئل أوسيران (@ariel_oseran) July 13, 2026Yemeni officials are warning that the next move could be the closure of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
“If the current situation aggravates, the Bab al-Mandeb Strait and the Strait of Hormuz will be closed in an operational alliance. Oil prices would then skyrocket to $200 a barrel in a dreadful shock,” said Mohammed al-Farah, a member of Ansar Allah’s political bureau.
Tyler Durden Tue, 07/14/2026 - 20:05President Trump's naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz is set to take effect Tuesday at around 1600 ET, after Iran attacked several commercial vessels, declared the waterway "closed until further notice," and exchanged multiple rounds of missiles and suicide drones with US forces.
Yet, unlike the opening phase of the U.S.-Iran conflict, Hormuz remains partially open as Tehran's leverage continues to erode.
At the same time, there is a growing sense of urgency among U.S.-allied Gulf states to launch a generational infrastructure buildout - from new pipelines to coastal ports - designed to reduce their exposure to the maritime chokepoint and bypass Hormuz altogether.
Bloomberg reports that the US is backing talks to revive an oil pipeline from Iraq to Syria's Mediterranean coast, creating an export route that would entirely bypass the Hormuz chokepoint and, in turn, reduce Tehran's leverage over shipping traffic.
US envoy Thomas Barrack has held talks with high-level Iraqi and Syrian officials and companies, including Chevron. The discussions also focused on rebuilding the long-idled Kirkuk-Baniyas pipeline.
Other options include a new pipeline from Basra to Haditha, with branches extending toward Syria, Turkey, or Jordan.
The report continued:
A State Department official confirmed the US government is supporting efforts by Iraq and Syria to enhance trade routes through rehabilitating the pipeline between the two countries and expects American companies to play a role in its construction.
Earlier Tuesday, President Donald Trump met with Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi at the White House and said "massive" new oil partnerships will be announced this or next week.
Either reviving the old pipeline or building a new one would help Iraq diversify away from the uncertain Hormuz chokepoint that forced it early in the conflict to shutter oil production by 60%. Baniyas, home to Syria's largest refinery, is emerging as a potential energy export hub, with Chevron, TotalEnergies, TI Capital, and UCC Holding involved in discussions.
Less than a week into the U.S.-Iran conflict, specifically on March 3, we began to see the writing on the wall...
Surprising Fujairah is not a bigger oil terminal: it bypasses the straits completely.
Expect major infrastructure push here after the war. https://t.co/Do1gK7KBDQ
On Monday, the Financial Times reported that Dubai's state-owned ports and logistics giant, DP World, is planning to bypass the critical waterway with a new container port on the UAE's east coast in Fujairah.
We have detailed how U.S.-aligned Gulf states are increasingly making plans to rejigger energy and container supply chains away from the Hormuz area. This will only accelerate the erosion of Tehran's geopolitical leverage over the chokepoint.
Read the report here.
Tyler Durden Tue, 07/14/2026 - 19:40