On April 16, news broke that Meta had cut ties with its contractor in Kenya, Sama, ending a long-standing outsourcing arrangement it had for content moderation and artificial intelligence training. The decision followed nearly eighteen months of organizing and litigation by Kenyan content moderators, during which the country’s courts had begun to recognize that Meta itself — rather than only its intermediary contractors — could be held accountable for labor rights violations within its supply chain.Rather than remaining within the jurisdiction to confront these claims, Meta withdrew from its arrangement with Sama altogether, resulting in the layoffs of more than 1,100 workers in Nairobi. Many of these workers had taken significant personal and professional risks to organize and pursue legal action, only to face the immediate consequences of corporate restructuring. The company is also reportedly lobbying to shape legislative responses in Kenya to limit similar forms of liability in the future.The implications of this case are particularly significant in the context of AI supply chains for two reasons. First, AI systems are expanding rapidly and are increasingly being positioned as integral to economic development, technological competitiveness, and national security. Second, the workers performing this labor occupy an intensely precarious position within these supply chains. Hired through layers of subcontracting, they face psychological harm, intense production pressures, and high job insecurity, leaving them vulnerable to the kind of abrupt contractual withdrawal witnessed in Kenya.Meta’s withdrawal from its contract with Sama is an example of a recurring dynamic: when workers in the Global South begin to challenge the organization of production, capital does not simply resist within existing frameworks but relocates or withdraws, using its cross-border mobility to evade emerging forms of accountability.What can states and labor movements, especially…
