Meta AI Unit Faces Revolt as Engineers Call Forced Transfers and Data-Labeling Work 'The Gulag'

Livestream Outburst Exposes Deep Dysfunction

A company-wide livestream at Meta turned chaotic this month when an employee hijacked the presentation with an expletive-filled meltdown, demanding attendees relay a message to a senior Meta AI executive: that he was "a piece of shit." 1

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One presenter reportedly covered their face with their hands as the incident unfolded on a call open to thousands of staff members. 4

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The outburst wasn't an isolated incident but rather the loudest signal yet of how badly things have deteriorated inside Meta's Applied AI team, the roughly 6,500-person unit Mark Zuckerberg built in March to support the company's AI research ambitions.

Forced Transfers Create 'Draftee' Culture

Meta's Applied AI team was formed through what employees describe as involuntary reassignments, with workers given a stark choice: join or quit. 1

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Many now call themselves "draftees," a term reflecting their lack of agency in the transfer process. 4

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According to The Pragmatic Engineer's analysis, between 30 and 50 percent of engineers from core product, infrastructure, and security teams were reassigned to focus on data-labeling and reinforcement learning from human feedback—the human-in-the-loop work that improves AI models. 5

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By some estimates, one in every five or six of Meta's engineers may now be labeling AI training data full time, a dramatic shift from their previous software development roles.

Soul-Crushing Work Fuels Employee Dissatisfaction

"It's literally the gulag," one employee told Wired, describing the work environment. "You have zero purpose in life all of a sudden, you barely interact with anyone, you just have these tasks every week." 4

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The assigned tasks include generating puzzles and coding problems to train AI models—work that employees find menial compared to their previous responsibilities. 1

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"Most people find the work soul-crushing," another employee revealed, noting that "almost all" team members appear unhappy with the organizational upheaval. 4

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The structure itself exacerbated problems, with managers initially overseeing up to 50 employees each, leaving workers without adequate support or mentorship. 1

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Widespread Layoffs and Internal Unrest Compound Crisis

The Applied AI turmoil unfolds against a backdrop of broader dysfunction at Meta. In May, the company cut approximately 8,000 jobs—10 percent of its workforce—just days after shifting thousands more onto AI teams. 4

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More than 1,600 Meta employees across the company signed a petition protesting a program that monitors their clicks and keystrokes to harvest AI training data, with no initial opt-out option. 1

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After widespread backlash, Meta began allowing staff to pause the tracking for up to 30 minutes and request specific exemptions. 5

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Chief Product Officer Chris Cox acknowledged the "difficult" and "brutal" environment during an Instagram team meeting, describing the past months as "running a marathon in the middle of a hailstorm." 4

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Leadership Admits 'Atrocious' Execution of AI Reorganization

Andrew Bosworth, Meta's chief technology officer and longtime Mark Zuckerberg loyalist, admitted in an internal post that the company did an "atrocious" job rolling out the new AI division. 2

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"We've undermined the trust you have that your specific expertise and contribution will be valued, that you will grow and advance your career, and that this will be a place where you can actually have an impact," Bosworth wrote to employees. 2

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He acknowledged that rapid strategy changes and the "boom/bust cycle of hiring" had left entire teams in limbo. In a separate memo, Maher Saba, the vice president leading the Applied AI team, announced that forced transfers would end, stating that "moving forward, we are returning to business as usual and giving people the agency to apply to roles that interest them." 2

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Zuckerberg Promises Stability Amid Record-Low Employee Morale

In a Friday internal memo, Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged that recent organizational changes had "caused distress" across Meta and conceded that "we've made mistakes and will almost certainly make more." 4

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He vowed no additional mass layoffs for the remainder of 2026 and introduced measures to cap the manager-to-employee ratio at approximately 20 direct reports, down from the problematic 50-to-one ratio on some teams. 2

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Zuckerberg also announced increased budgets for team events, the elimination of hot desking in some offices, and a large companywide AI hackathon planned for July 14-16. 3

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However, the AI hackathon announcement sparked immediate backlash, with employees commenting that added responsibilities following layoffs left them with no time for such activities. "I'm literally preoccupied with keeping the lights on for my team," one employee wrote. 3

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Security Incidents and Talent Exodus Loom Large

The toxic work culture and organizational chaos have tangible consequences. On May 30, Meta suffered what industry observers called one of its most embarrassing outages: a wave of Instagram account takeovers after its support AI could reportedly be tricked into sending password-reset codes to attackers' emails. 5

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Meta's security teams, depleted by reassignments to Applied AI, were caught unprepared, and the company's chief information security officer departed days later. Reports indicate a surge of Meta engineers signing up for interview-preparation services since May, suggesting an exodus may be underway despite the company's strong financial performance. 5

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Whether leadership's promises of better communication, career growth opportunities, and improved workplace perks—including enhanced microkitchens with snacks—will stem the tide remains uncertain as Meta Superintelligence Labs pushes to compete with Claude and ChatGPT.