Meta Restructures AI Division and Pauses Hiring Amid Intense AI Race

Report: Meta is hitting pause on AI hiring after its poaching spree | TechCrunch

Meta has frozen hiring in its AI organization after restructuring the unit earlier this week, reports The Wall Street Journal. The hiring freeze follows weeks of poaching more than 50 AI researchers and engineers from competitors. The freeze went into effect last week, and it's not clear how long it will last. Meta is still likely working through its reorg, which split its AI unit, Meta Superintelligence Labs, into four new groups: TBD Labs, run by former Scale AI founder Alexandr Wang, and three groups focused on research, product integration, and infrastructure, respectively. Meta confirmed the hiring freeze with The Journal, saying it was "basic organizational planning...after bringing people on board and undertaking yearly budgeting and planning exercises." Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's push to get ahead in the AI race has sparked serious talent wars. He's personally called top researchers and engineers to offer them pay packages worth nine figures, and acquired either other startups or their leadership. Analysts have warned that the rise of stock-based compensation costs could threaten shareholder returns.

Meta is shaking up its AI org, again | TechCrunch

On Friday, The Information reported that Meta was preparing to tear down its existing AI org and reorganize it into four new groups. Four days later, the change has been made official with an internal memo, as reported by Bloomberg and The New York Times. The changes were announced by Scale AI founder Alexandr Wang, who joined Meta as Chief AI officer in June. Meta's new organization for AI will be called the Meta Superintelligence Labs, or MSL. The centerpiece is a new group called TBD Labs, which will be run by Wang. The group will focus on foundation models like Llama series, which had its latest release in April. The other three groups will focused on research, product integration, and infrastructure respectively. Meta has put significant resources into revamping its AI organization in recent months in response to concerns that it was being outpaced by rivals like OpenAI, Anthropic and Google DeepMind. Mark Zuckerberg has been personally involved in recruitment for the new group, per a June report from Bloomberg.

Meta Restructures AI Group Again in Pursuit of Superintelligence

Meta Platforms Inc. is splitting its newly formed artificial intelligence group into four distinct teams and reassigning many of the company's existing AI employees, an attempt to better capitalize on billions of dollars' worth of recently acquired talent. The new structure is meant to "accelerate" the company's pursuit of so-called superintelligence, according to an internal memo sent Tuesday by Alexandr Wang, the former Scale AI chief executive officer who recently joined Meta as chief AI officer.

Is AI finally Zover?

The WSJ reported yesterday that Meta has restructured and instituted a hiring freeze at its AI division, calling an end to Mark Zuckerberg's personally-overseen, multibillion-dollar hiring spree. The NYT then followed up with news that Meta might even be looking to scale back the size of its "superintelligence" unit, and using other people's AI models (which is kinda embarrassing when you've already spent the GDP of a small country on your own efforts to build a machine god): Some A.I. executives are expected to leave, the people said. Meta is also looking at downsizing the A.I. division overall -- which could include eliminating roles or moving employees to other parts of the company -- because it has grown to thousands of people in recent years, the people said. Discussions remain fluid and no final decisions have been made on the downsizing, they said. In what would be a shift from Meta's using only its own technology to power its A.I. products, the company is also actively exploring using third-party artificial intelligence models to do so, the people said. That could include building on other "open-source" A.I. models, which are freely available, or licensing "closed-source" models from other companies. This does kinda make sense. A big, bloated division of "thousands" probably isn't optimal for an entrepreneurial endeavour. After chucking money at some superstar signings, it would be understandable if Zuckerberg afterwards pushed some benchwarmers and third reserve goalies towards the exit. And why not use someone else's models, where it makes sense, to free up resources? In statements to various news outlets, Meta naturally dismissed the hiring freeze and restructuring as a "basic organisational planning" and said it was "creating a solid structure for our new superintelligence efforts after bringing people on board and undertaking yearly budgeting and planning exercises". This paragraph from the WSJ was pretty funny though. Alphaville's emphasis below: Mounting concern from investors over the costs of the tech giants' AI buildout has played a role in this week's selloff of technology stocks. In an Aug. 18 research note, analysts at Morgan Stanley warned that the fast-rising stock-based compensation offered by Meta and Google to lure AI talent could threaten their ability to return capital to shareholders via buybacks. Lavish spending on talent, the analysts wrote, "has the potential to drive AI breakthroughs with massive value creation or could dilute shareholder value without any clear innovation gains." Interestingly, it seems like investors like even less the idea that splurging hundreds of millions of dollars at AI researchers -- and reportedly over $1bn in one case -- might eventually reach its limits. A report from MIT on how 95 per cent of companies were failing to see any pay-off from their AI initiatives seems to have added to the suddenly chilly air. Meta's stock has now fallen for four days in a row, paring its 2025 advance to "just" 27 per cent. As you can see, big drops like this aren't unusual for Meta (it suffered the biggest one-day evaporation of market capitalisation in history just three years ago) and it suffered a far bigger drawdown earlier in 2025. But given that it is going all-in on AI that has driven most of Meta's stock market performance over the past couple of years, any hints that the froth might be coming out of the AI bubble are sub-optimal for Zuck. It's almost as if the CEO who renamed his entire company after a $70bn digital wasteland might not be a great capital allocator? However, the whole metaverse thing now seems to be completely memory-holed by everyone -- including Zuckerberg himself. On Meta's fourth-quarter earnings call with analysts, in January, he predicted that 2025 was going to be a "pivotal year for the metaverse". In July's second-quarter earnings call, the metaverse only warranted one solitary mention in passing, in response to an analyst question about the company's "AI glasses". In contrast, AI was mentioned 62 times, and another 12 times on a follow-up call, according to AlphaSense. "Superintelligence" got 20 shout-outs. It's definitely a vibe.

Meta plans fourth restructuring of AI efforts in six months, The Information reports

Aug 15 (Reuters) - Meta (META.O), opens new tab is planning its fourth overhaul of artificial intelligence efforts in six months, The Information reported on Friday, citing three people familiar with the matter. The company is expected to divide its new AI unit, Superintelligence Labs, into four groups: a new "TBD Lab," short for to be determined; a products team including the Meta AI assistant; an infrastructure team; and the Fundamental AI Research (FAIR) lab focused on long-term research, the report said, citing two people. Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Reuters could not independently verify the report. As Silicon Valley's AI contest intensifies, CEO Mark Zuckerberg is going all-in to fast-track work on artificial general intelligence -- machines that can outthink humans -- and help create new cash flows. Meta recently reorganized the company's AI efforts under Superintelligence Labs, a high-stakes push that followed senior staff departures and a poor reception for Meta's latest open-source Llama 4 model. The social media giant has tapped U.S. bond giant PIMCO and alternative asset manager Blue Owl Capital (OWL.N), opens new tab to spearhead a $29 billion financing for its data center expansion in rural Louisiana, Reuters reported earlier this month. In July, Zuckerberg said Meta would spend hundreds of billions of dollars to build several massive AI data centers. The company raised the bottom end of its annual capital expenditures forecast by $2 billion, to a range of $66 billion to $72 billion last month. Rising costs to build out data center infrastructure and employee compensation costs -- as Meta has been poaching researchers with mega salaries -- would push the 2026 expense growth rate above the pace in 2025, the company has said. Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Meta puts the brakes on its massive AI talent spending spree

The logo of Meta is seen at the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France, June 11, 2025. Meta Platforms has paused hiring for its new artificial intelligence division, ending a spending spree that saw it acquire a wave of expensive hires in AI researchers and engineers, the company confirmed Thursday. The pause was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, which said that the freeze went into effect last week and came amid a broader restructuring of the group, citing people familiar with the matter. In a statement shared with CNBC, a Meta spokesperson said that the pause was simply "some basic organizational planning: creating a solid structure for our new superintelligence efforts after bringing people on board and undertaking yearly budgeting and planning exercises." According to the WSJ report, a recent restructuring inside Meta has divided its AI efforts into four teams. That includes a team focused on building machine superintelligence, dubbed the "TBD lab," or "To Be Determined," an AI products division, an infrastructure division, and a division that focuses on longer-term projects and exploration. It added that all four groups belong to "Meta Superintelligence Labs," a name that reflects Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg's desire to build AI that can outperform the smartest humans on cognitive tasks. In pursuit of that goal, Meta has been aggressively spending on AI this year. That included efforts to poach top talent from other AI companies, with offers said to include signing bonuses as high as $100 million. In one of its most aggressive moves, Meta acquired Alexandr Wang, founder of Scale AI, as part of a deal that saw the Facebook parent dish out $14.3 billion for a 49% stake in the AI startup. Wang now leads the company's AI lab focused on advancing its Llama series of open-source large language models.

Zuckerberg Plans Another Overhaul of Meta's A.I. Efforts

Meta is expected to announce a new restructuring of its artificial intelligence division amid internal tensions over the technology, people with knowledge of the plans said. Mark Zuckerberg, Meta's chief executive, has spent the past few months shaking up his company's artificial intelligence efforts. Now he plans to take further action that may compound internal turmoil over the technology. On Tuesday, Meta is expected to announce that it will split its A.I. division -- which is known as Meta Superintelligence Labs -- into four groups, two people with knowledge of the plans said. One will focus on A.I. research; one on a potentially powerful A.I. called "superintelligence"; another on products; and one on infrastructure such as data centers and other A.I. hardware, they said. The moves are aimed at better organizing Meta so it can develop A.I. products more quickly to compete with others, the people said. Some A.I. executives are expected to leave, the people said. Meta is also looking at downsizing the A.I. division overall -- which could include eliminating roles or moving employees to other parts of the company -- because it has grown to thousands of people in recent years, the people said. Discussions remain fluid and no final decisions have been made, they said. In what would be a shift from Meta using only its own technology to power its A.I. products, the company is also actively exploring using third-party artificial intelligence models to do so, the people said. That could include building on other "open source" A.I. models, which are freely available, or licensing "closed source" models from other companies. The changes follow months of tumult and restructuring at Meta over its A.I. strategy. Mr. Zuckerberg, 41, is sparing no expense and is willing to upend his company to stay relevant in A.I. as the push to create the most advanced technology has boiled down to a few key players. How Meta will fare is being closely watched, as the A.I. race creates new winners and losers. Mr. Zuckerberg's determination was evident in June after Meta struggled to advance its newest A.I. models. That month, the company announced a superintelligence lab dedicated to creating an A.I. more powerful than the human brain. Meta invested $14.3 billion in the start-up Scale AI and brought on Alexandr Wang, its chief executive, as its new chief A.I. officer. Meta also offered some nine-figure pay packages to hire researchers from rivals like OpenAI and Google, igniting a Silicon Valley poaching war. In an investor call last month, Mr. Zuckerberg said that he was betting on superintelligence to usher in "a new era of individual empowerment," adding that A.I. has already improved Meta's core advertising business. The company said its capital expenditures could be as much as $72 billion this year, most of which would go toward building data centers and hiring A.I. researchers. A Meta spokeswoman declined to comment. Some details of the restructuring were previously reported by The Information. Since Mr. Zuckerberg created the superintelligence team under Mr. Wang, which operates under the name TBD Lab (short for "to be determined"), tensions have surfaced. Mr. Wang's team is focused on creating the company's most powerful A.I. model, known as a "frontier model," two people with knowledge of the matter said. TBD Lab has discussed making Meta's next A.I. model "closed," which would be a major departure from the company's longtime philosophy of "open sourcing" its models. A closed model keeps its underlying code secret, while an open-source A.I. model can be built upon by other developers. The new team has chosen to abandon Meta's previous frontier model, called Behemoth, and start from scratch on a new model, the people said. Behemoth's release was delayed last spring after disappointing performance tests, one person said. As Meta has spent billions to bring in A.I. talent, some members of the old guard have chafed at the new hires, three people with knowledge of the matter said. In July, Meta named Shengjia Zhao, an OpenAI researcher and co-creator of its ChatGPT chatbot, as its chief A.I. scientist. In recent weeks, Mr. Zhao has had a line of Meta's old A.I. researchers and employees outside his office, where he has questioned them about their past work while interviewing them for new roles, one person said. Nat Friedman, the former chief executive of GitHub, and Daniel Gross, who previously ran a start-up called Safe Superintelligence, will lead development of new A.I. features under the products and applied research division, two of the people said. There has also been personnel churn. Earlier this year, Joelle Pineau, a leading computer scientist at Meta, left the company and later joined Cohere, an A.I. start-up. Angela Fan, a research scientist who worked on Meta's open source A.I. model known as Llama, recently left for OpenAI. Loredana Crisan, a vice president of generative A.I., is expected to announce her departure from the company on Tuesday, the people said. Some longtime A.I. leaders have stayed put. Rob Fergus, who co-founded Meta's A.I. research division in 2014, will continue as day-to-day head of Meta's Fundamental AI Research lab, or FAIR, the people said. The FAIR division is responsible for advancing A.I. technology through open-source research. Ahmad Al-Dahle and Amir Frenkle, who worked on generative A.I. products, are reporting to Mr. Wang and focusing on strategic A.I. initiatives.

Is Meta's Superintelligence Overhaul a Sign Its AI Goals Are Struggling?

The company is dismantling the division it built two months ago, and is looking to downsize after a remarkably expensive hiring spree. Meta is splitting its AI division Meta Superintelligence Labs less than two months after the company announced its formation in June. The group will be split into four smaller groups, according to a New York Times report. One group will focus on AI research, another one on infrastructure and hardware projects, one on AI products, and another one on building out AI superintelligence, a hypothetical AI system that could outperform human intelligence on any and all scales. Facebook did not respond to a request for comment. Superintelligence is Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s holy grail, but the timeline on that could take years, maybe decades, and some experts are skeptical that AI can even reach superintelligence to begin with. Along with the restructuring, Meta is also looking at downsizing its AI division completely, although no final decision has been made on that. That may not be too surprising given the multi-billion dollar hiring spree summer Meta has been having, which is likely to cause some shareholders concern when the company next releases spending. The tech giant has poached top talent from OpenAI, Apple, and more the past few months, tempting the engineers with multi-year deals worth millions of dollars. On the company’s latest earnings call, Meta CFO Susan Li said the company’s skyrocketing capital expenditure spend would be driven first by AI investments and then by employee compensation. Although capex hikes should make investors queasy, the stock soared, because Meta showed huge wins for its ad revenue business, attributing it to AI, and promised even more payoffs in the future thanks to the superintelligence lab. The company is also apparently moving away from its previous stance that “open source AI is the path forward,†as the tech giant contemplates licensing third-party artificial intelligence models, either by building on “open-source†models or by licensing closed-source models. The aim with the restructuring is reportedly to streamline Meta’s two top priorities: achieving the storied superintelligence, and to give the company a competitive edge in AI products, which it currently lacks. Zuckerberg first admitted that the company had fallen behind in the AI race back in April, and sparked a spending and restructuring frenzy. While AI has been helping the company’s ad revenue business, the same can’t be said for its products. Meta’s consumer-facing AI app is widely disliked by users across the internet for its inconsistencies and shortcomings. While some investors are hopeful in Zuckerberg’s determination to catch up to competitors in the AI race, and even deliver on superintelligence, the pressure is on for the Meta chief as this is not Zuckerberg’s first rodeo with a multibillion dollar moonshot. The “Metaverse,†Zuckerberg’s first fringe-idea-baby that had him change the company’s name over it, failed to scale out and delivered poor user adoption, despite the $20 billion poured into building it. In his quest to achieve his rather ambitious AI goals, Zuckerberg has known practically no boundaries, even sometimes sidestepping ethical ones. The company has allowed its generative AI assistants and chatbots to engage in “sensual†conversations with minors, affirm racist beliefs and even generate false medical information, according to a Reuters report from last week. A Wall Street Journal report from April found that the company even allowed users to create an AI chatbot called “Submissive Schoolgirl,†pretending to be an 8th grader. The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism opened a probe into the company’s AI products on Friday in response to the Reuters report. A string of legal dramas have followed since. Texas attorney-general Ken Paxton said on Monday that his office will be opening an investigation into Meta over its chatbot's alleged impersonation of licensed mental health professionals and false claims of confidentiality. Meta’s AI chatbots were under even more scrutiny this month after one of its chatbots led to a cognitively impaired New Jersey retiree’s death. The chatbot had encouraged the man that she was a real human being and invited him to “her†nonexistent New York apartment. Meta is scrambling to deliver on its ambitious promises and avoid a second Metaverse debacle, and the pressure is mounting for the company with each capital expenditure bump and restructuring decision. But in this path to success, the methods it uses to achieve superintelligence and AI market domination will be just as, if not more consequential, than whether or not it fails. Â

Meta implements hiring freeze after splitting up its AI superintelligence team

First came poaching, then restructuring and downsizing, now Meta has implemented a hiring freeze for its AI research team. A new report from the Wall Street Journal, following an earlier report this week from The New York Times, added new speculation about Meta's whiplash changes to its AI research efforts. According to the Times report on Tuesday, Meta is overhauling its newly formed Superintelligence Lab, by breaking it up into four smaller teams. The teams will reportedly focus on AI research, developing superintelligence (a form of AI more advanced than human intelligence), AI products, and AI infrastructure such as data centers, the Times said. The Times report said that in addition to restructuring its AI lab, Meta is downsizing the overall team, which is reportedly in the thousands. This lines up with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's newfound belief that superintelligence research should be done in small teams. "You really want the smallest group that can hold the whole thing in their head," said Zuckerberg on Meta's latest earnings call. This was in response to how his perspective on developing AI has changed in the past 12 months. On Thursday, Meta confirmed to the Journal that it has paused hiring for its AI team. Just in the past two months, things have changed drastically at Meta. Zuckerberg, disappointed by the Llama 4 launch, kickstarted an aggressive recruiting effort, where he reportedly personally reached out to top AI researchers and executives for his superintelligence team. Meta poached more than 50 AI professionals from its competitors like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google, enticing them with signing bonuses and salaries worth millions of dollars. That included recruiting former Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang to lead its superintelligence research team, internally dubbed "TBD lab." The fast-paced changes could signify the kind of swift action that comes from clarity of direction or concerns of a looming bubble. Meta told the Journal that the hiring freeze was a result of "bringing people on board and undertaking yearly budgeting and planning exercises." The sudden hiring of dozens of AI researchers and equally sudden freeze could mean Meta has the right team assembled after spending its seemingly massive hiring budget. However, some investors and analysts warn of a looming AI bubble after this week's market volatility, where major U.S. tech stocks dropped several points. The selloff came after an MIT study found 95 percent of companies implementing AI found no returns on investment.

Meta restructures AI lab into four units, eyes potential job cuts

Meta has reportedly reorganized its recently formed 'superintelligence' lab into four units focused on research, products, infrastructure, and advanced model development, while considering possible staff reductions, according to Bloomberg and The New York Times. In an internal memo, Meta's new chief AI officer, Alexandr Wang, detailed a major reorganization within the company's AI division. The lab will now be split into four groups: TBD Lab, focused on large language models like Llama; Fundamental AI Research, or FAIR, the company's long-running research arm; a Products and Applied Research team; and MSL Infra, which oversees the massive infrastructure behind Meta's AI push. Wang will take charge of TBD Lab himself. Robert Fergus will remain at the helm of FAIR, Aparna Ramani will lead MSL Infra, and former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman will run the applied research unit. Generative AI unit scrapped The AGI Foundations team, which had been focused on generative AI, has been dismantled. Its leaders, Ahmad Al-Dahle and Amir Frenkel, will shift to strategic projects within the new superintelligence unit and report directly to Wang. Connor Hayes, who previously led AI product development, was earlier moved to the Threads team. Internal friction over pay Meta's AI division has grown to several thousand employees, and sources say the company is considering scaling back, which could involve cutting jobs or moving staff to other areas. Some senior executives are also expected to depart. Within the company, longtime employees have become frustrated because newcomers are being offered pay packages in the nine figures. This has created resentment and deepened divisions across teams. Pivot on AI models Meta has also abandoned plans for its high-profile model, Llama 4 Behemoth. Instead, Wang's team is starting from scratch to build a new system that favors a closed-source design. This marks a major shift from the company's multi-year commitment to open source. The company is also considering using third-party AI models, signaling a significant move away from its traditional strategy of relying solely on in-house development.

Zuckerberg's Huge AI Push Is Already Crumbling Into Chaos

Image by Andrej Sokolow / picture alliance via Getty / Futurism Just a few months into Meta's multi-billion-dollar AI moonshot, CEO Mark Zuckerberg is already shaking up his "Superintelligence Lab" -- and some of its longtime leaders are leaving amid the chaos. As the New York Times reports based on insider sources, Meta has announced internally that it will be splitting its AI division into four separate groups: one focused on research, one on so-called "superintelligence," one on products, and another on infrastructure. First leaked in part to The Information, this shakeup follows a string of high-profile and even more highly-paid hires for Zuckerberg's Superintelligence Lab, at least one of whom was offered a whopping $1 billion signing bonus. Poaching talent from OpenAI, Apple, and Google DeepMind, the Meta CEO has spent much of the summer throwing massive gobs of money at the best and brightest from companies he views as competitors. A huge investment in a buzzy new tech followed by an epic crash out would be extremely on brand for Zuckerberg, who went so hard on the idea of a virtual reality "metaverse" a few years ago that he renamed the entire company from Facebook to Meta in 2021. Those VR efforts have largely stalled since those salad days, with the company subsequently laying off many of the people originally tasked with building it. Now, of course, the hot new tech trend is AI, and Zuckerberg is all in -- complete with the inevitable drama presaged by the company's VR push. According to the NYT's insiders, who were granted anonymity so they could speak freely, this restructuring of the company's AI efforts might even constitute an outright downsizing of the company's AI division, though the newspaper's sources say the decision isn't yet final. Moreover, while those sparkly new hires are being placed in leadership roles at the restructured AI division, the chaos surrounding Zuckerberg's superintelligence scheme has, according to those insiders, already driven out some of the old guard. Along with former AI research head research head Joelle Pineau, who left Meta to join the AI starup Cohere back in April, those whose exits hadn't yet been reported include Angela Fan, a research scientist who helped build Meta's Llama open-source AI model and is now jumping ship for OpenAI, and Loredana Crisan, a VP of generative AI who's joining the software company Figma. When the NYT reached out to Meta to ask about the shake-up, a spokesperson declined to comment -- and honestly, we can't imagine what there would be to say, except that those three may have gotten out at the right time.

Meta wants to speed its race to 'superintelligence' -- but investors will still want their billions in ad revenue

This time it's former Scale CEO Alexandr Wang -- brought on by Mark Zuckerberg in June as chief AI officer -- leading the reorganization. Wang, who now oversees a sprawling operation of thousands of engineers, scientists, and product managers, is looking to rein it in, reportedly resulting in some expected executive departures and at least one team shutdown. Wang was hired to help recruit a small, high-priced cadre of researchers -- some reportedly offered compensation packages exceeding $100 million, typically spread over several years -- now perched at the pinnacle of Meta's AI effort. But that group is only the tip of the spear: The new restructuring folds the entire AI organization into MSL, with four new groups focused on research, training, products, and infrastructure, all part of a bid for speed. The quartet of group leaders will all report to Wang, including well-known investor and former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman, who will lead product and applied research, and former OpenAI researcher Shengjia Zhao, who will lead the research team as chief scientist. In a recent email to employees, which detailed the restructuring, Wang acknowledged that reorganizations can be disruptive but insisted the new structure would "allow us to reach superintelligence with more velocity over the long term." (Meta did not respond to Fortune's request to confirm the contents of the email, which were published by Business Insider.) Investors, meanwhile, seem to have mixed feelings: Meta's stock slid more than 2% on the news today, but climbed most of the way back by market close. The share-price slide also reflects broader market jitters, as overheated AI and Big Tech names come off recent highs, said Daniel Newman, CEO of research firm The Futurum Group. He said he expects a "modest correction" but noted that Meta has "had an incredible run" and recently "delivered a great quarter once again." Still, analysts are eyeing Zuckerberg's nine-figure paydays for top AI researchers and his repeated reorganizing, and watching for signs that Meta will close the gap in the AI race "Of course there is some concern," Newman said, pointing out that numerous frontier models from OpenAI, xAI, and Google continue to improve while Meta's open-source Llama models have "seemingly stalled." "We think the team at Meta, after Zuckerberg's hiring spree, will need a period of acclimation before it finds the velocity to develop more competitive solutions," he said. That need for speed, however, is best understood as an extension of Meta's product machine rather than a bid to solve humanity's greatest challenges. While Meta has dabbled in moonshot AI through its FAIR research lab (cofounded by chief scientist Yann LeCun), rivals like OpenAI, Anthropic, and spinoffs such as Thinking Machine Labs and Safe Superintelligence have made the pursuit of artificial general intelligence (AI generally defined to be as smart as humans) and superintelligence (AI far smarter than humans) their central mission. Meta's mission, by contrast, has remained the same as it was before "superintelligence" became a buzzword: improving the products that power engagement on its massively profitable social-media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The advertising on those platforms is the source of near all of Meta's revenue, which reached $46.6 billion in the most recent quarter. Zuckerberg underscored this focus last month with an Instagram Reel and blog post in which he said AI is rapidly advancing and that we're beginning to see "glimpses of AI systems improving themselves." Superintelligence is now "in sight," he added -- but while rival AI companies talk about scientific or economic breakthroughs, his vision is aimed squarely at the individual: a personalized AI that helps you "achieve your goals, create what you want to see in the world, be a better friend, and grow to become the person that you aspire to be." That framing neatly aligns with what Meta has always built -- consumer-facing experiences designed to keep people engaged (and sell more ads). To Zuckerberg, superintelligence also means powering the future of AI-infused personal devices, specifically augmented-reality glasses that can "see what we see, hear what we hear, and interact with us throughout the day." Newman said he continues to like Meta's prospects because the company "isn't as dependent on the research end of its business, as it is using AI to continue to create higher Daily Active User numbers -- and of course, the coinciding revenue continues to rise as well." But Forrester's Mike Proulx countered that there is no doubt Meta is laser-focused on building "the best and most powerful AI models, period," he told Fortune. "The race is on and Meta is lagging against competitors. A concerted focus on superintelligence gives Meta a North Star to rally around both strategically and operationally." Zuckerberg echoed that sentiment on Meta's most recent earnings call, stressing that AI is at the center of each of Meta's five focus areas. But Proulx pointed out that it was AI glasses -- not the company's family of apps -- that Zuckerberg highlighted on that call as "the main way" superintelligence will enter people's daily lives. Overall, Proulx said he is not concerned with the seemingly constant upheaval in Meta's AI organization. "This space is moving at breakneck speed. As with any emerging tech race, there's inevitably going to be a lot of pivoting. It comes with the territory," he said. For all the lofty talk of superintelligence, however, Meta's AI reshuffling shows its bets are mostly still the same: personalized products that keep billions scrolling, ads flowing -- and soon, AI-powered glasses perched on every face. How the company fares will be closely watched: "The question now is whether the team is effectively enabled to deliver, or not," said Proulx.

Mark Zuckerberg freezes AI hiring amid bubble fears

The freeze went into effect last week, before the market sell-off in recent days. Stock market volatility was largely prompted by a report from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which claimed that 95pc of companies were getting "zero return" on their AI investments. A Meta spokesman sought to downplay the freeze, saying: "All that's happening here is some basic organisational planning: creating a solid structure for our new superintelligence efforts after bringing people on board and undertaking yearly budgeting and planning exercises." It comes after the company has been offering top researchers at rival companies, including OpenAI and Google, enormous pay deals to join Meta Superintelligence Labs as Mr Zuckerberg seeks to dominate the field. It has also promised unprecedented investments in AI data centres. The company's billionaire chief executive has become personally involved in developing cutting-edge AI after the disappointing release of its latest systems, personally messaging top researchers at Silicon Valley AI companies. However, the division has been disrupted by repeated strategy overhauls, which led to the delayed release of its latest "Behemoth" AI model. Talent hunt Mr Zuckerberg has said he wants to develop a "personal superintelligence" that acts as a permanent superhuman assistant and lives in smart glasses. "We believe in putting this power in people's hands to direct it towards what they value in their own lives," he wrote last month. "This is distinct from others in the industry who believe superintelligence should be directed centrally towards automating all valuable work, and then humanity will live on a dole of its output." Mr Zuckerberg recently told investors that he wanted "small, talent-dense teams" to be driving its AI work, rather than large groups of researchers. Despite this, the company has said that the cost of paying staff will significantly increase in the coming years. Analysts at Morgan Stanley warned this week that the pay surge may "dilute shareholder value without any clear innovation gains". Concerns about AI progress have been amplified by the modest response to GPT-5, the much-anticipated new version of ChatGPT. Sam Altman, OpenAI's chief executive, has compared hype around AI to the dotcom bubble at the turn of the century.

Meta said to be pausing its very expensive AI hiring spree

Meta Platforms has reportedly paused hiring across its artificial intelligence unit after months of aggressively poaching top talent from its rivals. The abrupt freeze, which began last week, is part of a wider reshuffle of the AI division and bars staff from transferring between internal teams, the Wall Street Journal reported. Any exceptions to outside hiring now require approval from Meta's chief AI officer, Alexandr Wang, the report continues, adding that it's unclear how long the restrictions will remain in place. In a statement to the Journal, Meta said it's engaging in routine planning and budgeting, and setting up clear structures for its Superintelligence Labs -- a moonshot to develop systems that surpass human-level reasoning. The advertising and social-media giant didn't immediately respond to Quartz's request for comment. Meta has been one of the most aggressive recruiters in the AI race, frequently outbidding rivals with lavish compensation packages and acquiring startups primarily for their talent. Analysts have questioned whether such heavy spending, particularly on stock-based pay, risks eroding shareholder returns. The internal reorganization reportedly splits Meta's AI division into four branches: TBD Lab, which houses the superintelligence push; a products-focused team; an infrastructure group; and Fundamental AI Research, which remains mostly untouched. Since April, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has personally courted researchers from OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and other labs, sometimes dangling nine-figure compensation packages that stretched into hundreds of millions. Meta has hired more than 50 specialists in recent months. Sam Altman, however, doesn't believe this will be enough to revive Meta's edge, he said on a podcast in June, as attracting workers with financial incentives doesn't always pay off long-term. "The degree to which they're focusing on that and not the work and not the mission, I don't think that's going to set up a great culture," he said. "I don't think they're a company that's great at innovation," he said of Meta. "Their current AI efforts have not worked as well as they hoped." Indeed, the overhaul follows disappointment with Meta's Llama language model earlier this year, which underperformed expectations and led to the dismantling of the AGI Foundations team. Several members exited the company around the August 15 vesting date. The costly hiring spree has also fueled investor unease. Morgan Stanley analysts wrote in an August 18 research note, viewed by the Journal, that escalating stock-based compensation offered by Meta and Google to lure AI talent undermine shareholder value if results fall short. Extravagant sign-on bonuses and salaries have "the potential to drive AI breakthroughs with massive value creation or could dilute shareholder value without any clear innovation gains," the analysts wrote. The freeze comes days after The Verge reported that Altman said AI is in a bubble, which preceded this week's tech stock sell-off. At a recent dinner in San Francisco with a small group of reporters, Altman was asked whether investors are collectively overhyping the AI space, and Altman reportedly replied, "Yes." He compared the current surge of excitement with the dot-com boom of the late 90s, when investors piled into internet startups on the back of one undeniable fact: that the internet was a world-changing technology. "When bubbles happen, smart people get overexcited about a kernel of truth," Altman was quoted saying. Since news broke on Friday of Altman's apprehensions, the S&P 500 is down 1.43%, while the Nasdaq Composite has lost 2.68%.

Meta Freezes AI Hiring as Fear Spreads

Mark Zuckerberg's Meta is freezing all hiring in its artificial intelligence division. As the Wall Street Journal reports, the company characterized the hiring freeze as "basic organizational planning," coinciding with a broader restructuring of its AI division's leadership. It's a notable admission that comes as Zuckerberg has been desperately offering key talent mind-boggling financial offers, reportedly reaching $1 billion -- with seriously mixed results -- that highlight its frantic attempts to catch up in the AI race. Analysts, however, have balked at the CEO's costly attempts to poach workers from competing AI firms, per the WSJ, raising concerns that compensating them with enormous stock offers could undercut shareholder returns. The AI industry as a whole is facing a critical juncture, with mounting concerns contributing to a massive tech selloff roiling the stock market this week. Shares of AI tech stalwarts, including Nvidia and Palantir, have plummeted -- raising concerns that the hype had driven their valuations too high for the shaky realities of their current tech. As part of the company's restructuring, Meta's so-called Superintelligence Labs will now house four different divisions. One department, dubbed AGI Foundations, which worked on the company's latest Llama large language models, was dissolved. A disastrous April release of its "Behemoth" AI model drew widespread criticism and accusations of fudging benchmarks to make it look more capable than it really is. At least three members of the AGI Foundations team announced they were leaving Meta, the WSJ reports. Up until the hiring freeze, Meta added over 50 new employees for its AI efforts, including 20 researchers and engineers from OpenAI, and at least 13 from Google. But whether the company -- and the AI industry as a whole -- will ultimately justify the hiring spree remains to be seen. Firms are still spending tens of billions of dollars on AI infrastructure buildouts that broadly eclipse actual revenue. For his part, Zuckerberg remains adamant that his new team will deliver, claiming that "automating all valuable work" will put "power in people's hands to direct it towards what they value in their own lives."

Meta Breaks Up AI Lab as Part of Superintelligence Push - Decrypt

Zuckerberg says Meta is committed to leading in the race toward AI superintelligence. Meta is breaking up its AI Superintelligence Labs into four divisions focused on research, infrastructure, and product development, part of a broader effort to accelerate progress toward so-called superintelligence. Meta's chief AI officer, Alexandr Wang, said in the memo that the Superintelligence Labs will be divided into smaller units focused on AI research, infrastructure, hardware, product integration, and the company's long-term superintelligence goals. "Superintelligence is coming, and in order to take it seriously, we need to organize around the key areas that will be critical to reach it," Wang wrote, according to an article on Bloomberg, which first reported the story. Meta confirmed the reorganization in an email to Decrypt, but declined to provide further details. The restructured Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL) will include four groups: The shake-up follows an aggressive hiring spree in which Meta poached top talent from firms like OpenAI, Anthropic, GitHub, and Google DeepMind. In June, Meta invested $14 billion in Scale AI, naming Wang -- Scale's CEO -- as Meta's new chief AI officer. That same month, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman accused Meta of offering $100 million in job packages to lure his staff. According to a separate New York Times report, which cited sources familiar with the matter, some executives are expected to leave following the restructuring. Meta is also reportedly considering integrating third-party AI models into its products, marking a shift from its past reliance on in-house AI development. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has made AI and, more recently, achieving superintelligence central to Meta's long-term vision. In the company's second-quarter earnings call, CFO Susan Li said capital expenditures could hit $72 billion by year's end, driven largely by AI-related infrastructure. In a recent post, Zuckerberg doubled down on Meta's push toward superintelligence. "I am extremely optimistic that superintelligence will help humanity accelerate our pace of progress," he wrote. "But perhaps even more important is that superintelligence has the potential to begin a new era of personal empowerment where people will have greater agency to improve the world in the directions they choose."

Looks like AI could be the new Metaverse as CEO Mark Zuckerberg will reportedly 'downsize' Meta Superintelligence Labs and buy in third-party AI models

After blowing tens of billions of dollars to apparently no avail on the Metaverse, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been funnelling yet more billions into AI. But according to a new report in the New York Times, Meta is going to tighten the screw on the money tap. Meta's AI division will be "downsized." First up, Meta announced that Meta Superintelligence Labs will be split into four groups: AI research, AI "superintelligence", products and infrastructure and other AI hardware. The New York Times claims that, "Meta is also looking at downsizing the AI division overall -- which could include eliminating roles or moving employees to other parts of the company -- because it has grown to thousands of people in recent years, the people said. Discussions remain fluid and no final decisions have been made on the downsizing." Intriguingly, the report also claims that Meta is considering buying in AI models from third parties to power its products. "The company is also actively exploring using third-party artificial intelligence models," the New York Times claims. Slightly contradicting the belt-tightening narrative, the outlet also says that Mark Zuckerberg, "is sparing no expense and is willing to upend his company to stay relevant in AI." Moreover, it was only in June that Meta invested $14.3 billion in the start-up Scale AI and inserted its CEO, Alexandr Wang, as chief AI officer at Meta. Meanwhile, the company reportedly acquired the services of "of 24-year-old AI prodigy" Matt Deitke courtesy of a $250 million pay deal. Likewise, the New York Times says that Meta's overall capital expenditure could hit $72 billion this year, much of which will be spent on AI. So, yeah, there's still a bit of money knocking around Meta to spend on AI. Apparently, the restructuring is in part a response to tensions within Meta. New hire Alexandr Wang reportedly wants Meta's superintelligence model to be closed rather than open source and has ditched the company's existing superintelligence model, known as Behemoth, to start from scratch. The New York Times also notes the departure of several senior AI operatives from Meta. Overall, this is a pretty mixed narrative, at best. There's the idea that Meta is downsizing its AI activities, all the while spending billions on acquisitions, hundreds of millions on pay packages, and restarting its superintelligence quest from scratch. The reported turmoil certainly puts Zuckerberg's claims just last month that superintelligence is now "in sight" into an uncomfortable, if not implausible, context. Of course, Zuckerberg has form when it comes to, well, optimism over new technologies. He has, after all, renamed the entire company after the Metaverse, a project that's lost a total of $45 billion in three years from 2022, about the same as the annual budget of NASA. Indeed, Reality Labs, the Meta division responsible for the Metaverse, is still losing money, with another $8.64 billion down the drain so far this year. Whether Zuckerberg's quest for superintelligence will be any more successful remains to be seen.

Meta restructures AI group again in pursuit of superintelligence

San Francisco | Meta Platforms is splitting its newly formed artificial intelligence group into four distinct teams and reassigning many of the company's existing AI employees, an attempt to better capitalise on billions of dollars' worth of recently acquired talent. The new structure is meant to "accelerate" the company's pursuit of so-called superintelligence, according to an internal memo sent on Tuesday (Wednesday AEST) by Alexandr Wang, the former Scale AI chief executive officer who recently joined Meta as chief AI officer.

Meta Might Be Breaking Up Its AI Division Again

This restructuring is said to be the final one for the near future Meta is reportedly restructuring its artificial intelligence (AI) division again, following the recent establishment of the Superintelligence Labs. As per the report, the new reorganisation will divide the division into four specialised groups, with each tasked with developing a specific area. Alongside the restructuring, the Menlo Park-based tech giant is reportedly also planning to downsize the division, which is said to have grown to thousands of employees. The company is reportedly also planning to use third-party AI models for its products, likely as a stopgap measure. Meta's Superintelligence Labs Reportedly Split Into Four According to The New York Times, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is trying to make the company's AI division leaner and easier to manage. Citing unnamed individuals familiar with the matter, the publication reported that Meta Superintelligence Labs will now be divided into four groups. The first group will reportedly focus on AI research, while the second group will continue its efforts towards superintelligence, which remains a high-priority area for the Meta CEO. The third group is said to have been tasked with working on building and deploying AI tools and features for its range of products and platforms, and the final group will be working on infrastructure such as data centres and other AI hardware. Zuckerberg is reportedly also planning to downsize the AI division. Citing unnamed sources, the report claimed that some AI executives within the company will be asked to leave, while others will be reassigned to different departments. The company is also said to be eliminating some existing roles in the division. The report does highlight that these changes are currently under discussion, and no final decision has been made regarding them. Meta's AI division has reportedly grown to thousands of employees, and the reason behind the restructuring and downsizing is to better manage the division and reduce the chain of command, as per the report. This will reportedly be the final restructuring for the division for the near future, as the company continues its efforts towards superintelligence. Separately, the report also claims that Meta is planning to use third-party AI models for its products. These can be licensed closed-source models, such as Google's Gemini 2.5 or OpenAI's GPT-5, or open-source models. This will likely be a stopgap for the company as its AI division develops newer and more powerful large language models.

Meta Freezes AI Hiring as Surging Costs Raise Concerns, Report Says

Meta Platforms (META) reportedly has frozen hiring in its high-profile artificial intelligence division as investors grow concerned about the unit's surging costs. According to The Wall Street Journal, the tech giant began the freeze last week amid a broader restructuring, and exceptions would require the approval of chief AI officer Alexandr Wang. Meta has hired 50-plus AI engineers and researchers for the four-team unit, and "prohibits current employees from moving across teams inside the division," the report said. Meta hired Scale AI CEO Wang in June to lead an AI "superintelligence group." The tech giant has been among the most aggressive in the sector in poaching engineers and researchers to staff up its AI division, reportedly offering nine-figure pay packages as well as using so-called "reverse acquihires," where it buys into a startup to get its leaders, as it did with Scale AI. The Journal said that some analysts are worried that Meta's stock-based compensation costs would threaten shareholder returns. Meta didn't immediately respond to an Investopedia request for comment. The tech firm's shares, which entered Thursday up 28% this year, are little changed in premarket trading.

Meta Is Said to Be Putting a Stop to Its Aggressive AI Hiring Spree

The hiring freeze reportedly arrived amid restructuring of AI division Meta has reportedly frozen hiring in its newly created artificial intelligence (AI) division. As per the report, the Menlo Park-based tech giant is no longer pursuing AI researchers and engineers from rival companies or looking to reverse-acquihire personnel from smaller startups working with the technology anymore. While the reason behind the move was not disclosed, the report coincides with claims of the company restructuring the Superintelligence Labs by dividing it into four specialised groups. It is also said that Meta has discussed downsizing the AI team for better workspace management. Meta Reportedly Pauses Its Aggressive Hiring Policy According to The Wall Street Journal, Meta has now frozen its hiring spree for its AI division. Citing unnamed people familiar with the matter, the report claimed that the decision to stop hiring new talent was made last week. So far, the company is said to have hired more than 50 AI researchers at seven and eight-figure salary packages. In the past few months, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has aggressively pursued top AI researchers and engineers from companies such as Anthropic, Google, OpenAI, and Microsoft. The CEO has also acquired several AI startups to absorb their top talent into Meta. In one such publicised incident, the tech giant unsuccessfully attempted to buy former OpenAI COO Mira Murati's startup Thinking Machines Lab, despite making an offer worth $1 billion (roughly Rs. 8,700 crore) to the startup's Co-Founder, Andrew Tulloch. A Meta spokesperson confirmed the hiring freeze to WSJ and said it was a "basic organisational planning: creating a solid structure for our new superintelligence efforts after bringing people on board and undertaking yearly budgeting and planning exercises." Interestingly, the hiring freeze comes at a time when a separate report claims that Meta is also restructuring the Superintelligence Labs. As per the report, the entire division is being divided into four groups, where one will focus on AI research, another on developing superintelligence, the third on building and deploying AI tools and features for Meta's products, and the fourth on infrastructure such as data centres and AI hardware.

Meta restructures AI group again in pursuit of superintelligence - The Economic Times

Meta Platforms is splitting its newly formed artificial intelligence group into four distinct teams and reassigning many of the company's existing AI employees, an attempt to better capitalise on billions of dollars' worth of recently acquired talent. The new structure is meant to "accelerate" the company's pursuit of so-called superintelligence, according to an internal memo sent Tuesday by Alexandr Wang, the former Scale AI chief executive officer who recently joined Meta as chief AI officer. "Superintelligence is coming, and in order to take it seriously, we need to organize around the key areas that will be critical to reach it -- research, product and infra," Wang wrote in the memo, which was reviewed by Bloomberg News. The group, known as Meta Superintelligence Labs, or MSL, will now have four parts: No layoffs were part of Tuesday's reorganization, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the deliberations are private. Details of the new structure were first reported by the Information. Meta is hoping to stabilize its AI efforts after months spent poaching dozens of top AI researchers from competitors with lofty pay packages, many reaching hundreds of millions in total compensation. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said the company's goal is to achieve superintelligence, or AI technology that can complete tasks even better than humans, and he expects to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on the talent and infrastructure needed to get there. But Meta's AI leadership has faced several shake-ups in the past few years, including multiple changes this year alone as the company has raced to keep pace with rivals like OpenAI and Google. Before announcing MSL in June, the social media giant had three primary AI teams -- FAIR, an AI products group, and the AGI foundations team, which focused on generative AI products and research. The AGI foundations group is being dissolved, and leaders Ahmad Al-Dahle and Amir Frenkel are now "focusing on strategic MSL initiatives" and reporting to Wang, according to the memo. The former head of the AI products group, Connor Hayes, was already reassigned to run Threads, Meta's rival product to Elon Musk's X. As part of Tuesday's reorganization, Aparna Ramani, a Meta vice president charged with leading the company's AI, data and developer infrastructure units, will run the MSL Infra team, according to the memo. Robert Fergus will continue to lead FAIR, an organization he co-founded in 2014. He had previously left the group and spent several years at Alphabet Inc.'s DeepMind before returning to run FAIR this spring. Loredana Crisan, who previously led the company's Messenger app and moved to the company's generative AI group in February, is departing Meta for Figma Inc., according to a person familiar with the move.

Meta freezes AI hiring: WSJ - The Economic Times

Meta Platforms has paused hiring in its AI division after onboarding over 50 researchers and engineers, according to the Wall Street Journal. A Meta spokesperson stated this is part of routine organisational planning and budgeting to structure its new superintelligence initiatives following recent team expansions.Meta Platforms has paused hiring in its artificial intelligence division after bringing on more than 50 researchers and engineers, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. "All that's happening here is some basic organisational planning: creating a solid structure for our new superintelligence efforts after bringing people on board and undertaking yearly budgeting and planning exercises," a spokesperson for Meta said in an emailed statement to Reuters.

After billion-dollar hirings, Zuckerberg slams brakes on Meta's AI hiring spree as bubble fears shake Silicon Valley

Meta AI hiring freeze: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has hit pause on Meta's aggressive recruitment of artificial intelligence talent, signaling a major shift in the company's AI ambitions amid growing concerns over an AI investment bubble shaking Silicon Valley, as per a report. The company has frozen hiring across its so-called "superintelligence labs," allowing exceptions only with approval from AI chief Alexandr Wang, according to the Telegraph report. This sudden halt marks a sharp turnaround for Meta, which not long ago was offering sky-high pay packages, reportedly reaching up to $1 billion, to lure top AI researchers from rivals like OpenAI and Google, according to the report. ALSO READ: Can ChatGPT help you get out of debt? What experts and users say about AI chatbots' financial advice Meta's decision comes as the tech sector reels from a wave of stock market drops, triggered by doubts over whether massive AI investments are delivering real returns, as per The Telegraph report. Firms such as Nvidia, Arm, and Palantir have all taken hits this week, according to the report. The US stock market volatility was largely driven due to a report from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which claimed that 95% of companies were getting "zero return" on their AI investments, as reported by The Telegraph. However, Meta's hiring freeze began last week, even before the recent market turmoil intensified, as per The Telegraph report. ALSO READ: Trump backs away from Russia-Ukraine peace talks, sources say -- what's really behind the sudden pause? Meanwhile, a Meta spokesperson downplayed the hiring freeze, saying: "All that's happening here is some basic organisational planning: creating a solid structure for our new superintelligence efforts after bringing people on board and undertaking yearly budgeting and planning exercises," as quoted in the report. Despite the hiring freeze, Zuckerberg recently told investors that he wanted "small, talent-dense teams" to be driving its AI work, instead of large groups of researchers, according to The Telegraph report. Meta has emphasized that the cost of paying staff will significantly increase in the coming years, as per the report. However, analysts at Morgan Stanley have warned this week that the pay surge may "dilute shareholder value without any clear innovation gains," as quoted by The Telegraph report. ALSO READ: Shocking twist: Computer Science grads face one of the highest unemployment rates today Meanwhile, concerns regarding AI progress have also increased after the modest response to GPT-5, which was the much-anticipated new version of OpenAI's ChatGPT, according to the report. Even OpenAI's chief executive, Sam Altman, warned that the hype around AI at present is similar to the dotcom bubble, as reported by The Telegraph. Why did Meta stop hiring AI researchers? Meta paused hiring to reorganise its AI efforts and focus on building smaller, more effective teams. Who can still be hired for AI roles at Meta? Only exceptions approved by Meta's AI chief, Alexandr Wang, are allowed to join right now.

Meta's Billion-Dollar AI 'Super Team' Could End Up Like The Metaverse, Warns Venture Capitalist: 'Don't Think Anyone's The '96 Bulls' - Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)

Venture capitalist Sarah Kunst of Cleo Capital is raising concerns regarding Meta Platforms Inc.'s META latest reorganization and its high-priced push into artificial intelligence, warning that the strategy could mirror the company's failed metaverse experiment. Building A "Super Team" of Engineers On Monday, Kunst noted that while Meta is splitting into four divisions, "the fourth one is TBD," or to be determined, a move she describes as "kind of reflects the mood inside of Meta right now," while appearing on CNBC's Worldwide Exchange. She says CEO Mark Zuckerberg wants to give Alexandr Wang and Nat Friedman "the two guys he is reportedly paying billions to come in and do this, some room to run." See Also: Mark Zuckerberg Reportedly Plans Fourth AI Restructuring In Six Months Amid Silicon Valley's AI Talent War She compares Meta's approach to building an NBA "super team," recruiting top engineers from Apple, Scale AI and others. But she's skeptical about whether the model would work. "I don't think anyone's the '96 Bulls," she says, referring to the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls Basketball team, which is widely seen as one of the greatest basketball teams of all time. According to Kunst, even with this top talent, the company's efforts could end in failure, much like it did with "the Metaverse," citing the mix of egos, oversized pay packages, and the lack of drive that could make it tough to win. "Zuck has pulled crazy things off before. But I think this might look a little bit more like the metaverse days than the early days of Facebook in terms of the output here," she says. Success, she says, will depend on whether Meta can integrate its costly new hires into its culture. If not, "it's sort of like a bad transplant and the body starts to reject the organ." Meta Faces Growing AI Scrutiny Meta recently came under criticism from prominent short seller Jim Chanos, who accused the company of overstating profits through extended depreciation schedules on its AI infrastructure. "If the true economic life on its GPUs is actually 2-3 years, most of its profits are materially overstated," Chanos said on X, late last month. This comes as the company plans $100 billion in AI-related capex for 2026, which, according to CFO Susan Li, will require significant external financing. Shares of Meta Platforms were down 2.27% on Monday, closing at $767.37, and another 0.05% after hours. The stock scores high on Momentum, Growth and Quality in Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings, with a favorable price trend in the short, medium and long terms. Click here for deeper insights into the stock, its peers and competitors. Read More: Meta Faces Congressional Fire Over Leaked AI Rulebook That Allowed Chatbots To Flirt With Kids Photo Courtesy: Skorzewiak on Shutterstock.com METAMeta Platforms Inc$767.00-2.32%Stock Score Locked: Edge Members Only Benzinga Rankings give you vital metrics on any stock - anytime. Unlock RankingsEdge RankingsMomentum83.04Growth83.60Quality92.59Value24.91Price TrendShortMediumLongOverviewMarket News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

Mark Zuckerberg Halts AI Hiring After Million-Dollar Talent Poaching Sparks Investor Backlash Amid Meta's 'Superintelligence Efforts:' Report

Meta Platforms Inc. META has implemented a hiring freeze in its artificial intelligence division following months of aggressive recruitment that included nine-figure compensation packages. Hiring Moratorium Follows Talent War Spending The freeze, effective last week, prohibits external hires and internal team transfers within the AI division, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources. Meta hired over 50 researchers and engineers from competitors, including OpenAI, Alphabet Inc. GOOGL GOOG and Apple Inc. AAPL, offering compensation packages reaching $100 million. CEO Mark Zuckerberg personally recruited talent through direct outreach, including a $1.5 billion offer to Thinking Machines Lab co-founder Andrew Tulloch, who declined. The company secured Scale AI co-founder Alexandr Wang as chief AI officer through a $14 billion stake purchase. Investor Concerns Drive Strategic Pause Morgan Stanley analysts warned that escalating stock-based compensation could threaten shareholder returns through reduced buyback capacity. The cautionary stance contributed to recent technology stock selloffs as investors scrutinize AI infrastructure spending across major tech firms. A Meta spokesperson, according to WSJ, characterized the freeze as "basic organizational planning" following the restructuring of its Superintelligence Labs into four specialized teams. See Also: Fed Just Poured Cold Water On Rate Cut Hopes-And Tariffs Are To Blame Restructuring Creates Focused AI Teams Meta's reorganization established four divisions: TBD Lab for superintelligence research, AI products development, infrastructure, and Fundamental AI Research for exploratory projects. The previous AGI Foundations team was dissolved after disappointing Llama model performance. The hiring freeze includes exceptions requiring Wang's approval, though the duration remains undisclosed. At least three former AGI Foundations members announced departures following Meta's August 15 vesting date, according to internal communications reviewed by WSJ. With approximately 2,000 researchers globally capable of foundational AI model development, competition for talent remains fierce as companies pursue artificial general intelligence amid $250 billion industry infrastructure investments through 2026. Read Next: Palantir, AppLovin, Robinhood or Coinbase? Benzinga Readers Pick Their Top Jim Cramer 'PARC' Stock Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Photo courtesy: Frederic Legrand - COMEO / Shutterstock.com $METAMetadiumNot Available-%Stock Score Locked: Want to See it? Benzinga Rankings give you vital metrics on any stock - anytime. Reveal Full ScoreEdge RankingsMomentumN/APrice TrendShortMediumLongOverviewAAPLApple Inc$225.65-2.13%GOOGAlphabet Inc$199.97-1.24%GOOGLAlphabet Inc$198.98-1.28%METAMeta Platforms Inc$747.00-0.60%Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

Mark Zuckerberg Reportedly Plans Fourth AI Restructuring In Six Months Amid Silicon Valley's AI Talent War - Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META), Blue Owl Capital (NYSE:OWL)

Meta Platforms Inc. META is reportedly gearing up for its fourth major overhaul of artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives in just six months. Zuckerberg Splits Superintelligence Labs Into 4 Teams The restructuring is expected to involve the division of the new AI unit, Superintelligence Labs, into four groups, as per a report by The Information on Friday. The groups include a new "TBD Lab," a products team with the Meta AI assistant, an infrastructure team, and the Fundamental AI Research (FAIR) lab, focusing on long-term research. Check out the current price of META stock here. The move comes as Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg intensifies the company's AI efforts, aiming to fast-track the development of artificial general intelligence. This latest restructuring follows the reorganization of the company's AI initiatives under Superintelligence Labs, which was a high-stakes move following the departure of senior staff and a lukewarm reception for Meta's Llama 4 model. Meta has also been investing heavily in its data center expansion, having recently secured a $29 billion financing led by U.S. bond giant PIMCO and alternative asset manager Blue Owl Capital OWL. In July, Zuckerberg revealed that Meta plans to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in constructing multiple large-scale AI data centers. SEE ALSO: 'The Flash' Star Danielle Panabaker Says She Was Paid 'Less Than $10,000' For Arrowverse Crossovers Despite Working Twice As Hard AI Hiring Battles Intensify As Meta Faces Criticism This restructuring comes amid a heated AI talent war in Silicon Valley. Earlier this month, Elon Musk criticized Zuckerberg's aggressive AI hiring spree, highlighting the growth potential of his start-up, xAI, without the need for "insane initial comp". Furthermore, AMD CEO Lisa Su pushed back against Zuckerberg's $100 million compensation offers aimed at poaching top AI talent, emphasizing mission alignment and workplace impact over staggering salaries. Meta's AI operations have also faced congressional scrutiny following media reports of internal policies allowing AI chatbots to engage children in "romantic or sensual" conversations and generate racist content. These controversies and the ongoing AI talent war may shape the future of Meta's AI operations. Benzinga's Edge Rankings place Meta in the 85th percentile for momentum and the 26th percentile for value, reflecting its mixed performance. Check the detailed report here. READ MORE: US Facebook Users To Receive Settlement Checks In $725 Million Data Privacy Case -- Check If You Are Eligible Image via Shutterstock Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. METAMeta Platforms Inc$783.25-0.25%Stock Score Locked: Edge Members Only Benzinga Rankings give you vital metrics on any stock - anytime. Unlock RankingsEdge RankingsMomentum83.04Growth83.60Quality92.59Value24.91Price TrendShortMediumLongOverviewOWLBlue Owl Capital Inc$19.150.58%Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

As Meta Faces AI Scrutiny, Mounting Regulatory Risk Overshadows Strong Earnings And Pushes Stock Lower - Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)

Meta Platforms Inc META shares are trading lower Monday afternoon as the company navigates a series of headwinds related to its artificial intelligence strategy. Here's what investors need to know. What To Know: The stock is under pressure following reports that the company faces congressional scrutiny over a leaked internal AI rulebook that allegedly permitted chatbots to engage in "romantic or sensual" conversations with children. The news prompted U.S. Senators Josh Hawley and Marsha Blackburn to call for an immediate investigation, escalating regulatory and reputational risks for the social media giant. Adding to investor concerns are signs of internal instability and intense competition within its crucial AI division. Meta is reportedly planning its fourth major AI restructuring in just six months as it battles rivals in a fierce talent war. This operational upheaval is compounded by controversy surrounding its approach to AI bias. Following a lawsuit over its AI falsely linking an activist to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, Meta settled the case and brought in the activist, Robby Starbuck, as an advisor on political bias, a move that has drawn public criticism. These mounting challenges appear to be overshadowing the company's strong fundamental performance. As a core member of the "Magnificent Seven," Meta's earnings have recently grown at a pace three times faster than the rest of the S&P 500. However, the combination of regulatory threats and strategic controversies surrounding its costly AI push is weighing on investor sentiment Monday afternoon. Benzinga Edge Rankings: According to Benzinga Edge stock rankings, Meta Platforms showcases a profile of a high-caliber company trading at a premium. The company earns an exceptional Quality score of 92.59, indicating strong financial health and business fundamentals. It also scores impressively on both Momentum (83.04) and Growth (83.60), reflecting positive stock performance trends and a rapid pace of expansion. In stark contrast, Meta receives a low Value score of 24.91, which suggests that, according to these metrics, the stock is considered expensive and may be trading at a high price multiple relative to its underlying earnings and assets. Price Action: According to data from Benzinga Pro, META shares are trading lower by 2.50% to $765.60 Monday afternoon. The stock has a 52-week high of $796.25 and a 52-week low of $479.80. Read Also: Tesla, Apple, Amazon Among Hedge Fund Favorites, SPY Emerges As Top ETF Buy How To Buy META Stock Besides going to a brokerage platform to purchase a share - or fractional share - of stock, you can also gain access to shares either by buying an exchange traded fund (ETF) that holds the stock itself, or by allocating yourself to a strategy in your 401(k) that would seek to acquire shares in a mutual fund or other instrument. For example, in Meta Platforms' case, it is in the Communication Services sector. An ETF will likely hold shares in many liquid and large companies that help track that sector, allowing an investor to gain exposure to the trends within that segment. Image: Shutterstock METAMeta Platforms Inc$769.83-1.96%Stock Score Locked: Edge Members Only Benzinga Rankings give you vital metrics on any stock - anytime. Unlock RankingsEdge RankingsMomentum83.04Growth83.60Quality92.59Value24.91Price TrendShortMediumLongOverview This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

Meta Halts AI Hiring Following Recruitment Push | PYMNTS.com

By completing this form, you agree to receive marketing communications from PYMNTS and to the sharing of your information with our sponsor, if applicable, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions. The freeze went into effect last week and is happening amid a wider restructuring of the AI division, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported late Wednesday (Aug. 20), citing sources familiar with the matter. The length of the freeze was not clear, the report added. The news comes at the tail end of a summer that began with reports that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg had personally gotten involved in the company's AI hiring efforts, offering - in some cases - nine-figure compensation packages. According to the WSJ, a spokesperson for Meta confirmed the pause in hiring, calling it "basic organizational planning: creating a solid structure for our new superintelligence efforts after bringing people on board and undertaking yearly budgeting and planning exercises." This week also saw reports that Meta was dividing its AI unit into four groups, marking the fourth such restructuring in six months. As the WSJ notes, increasing concerns about the cost of Big Tech's AI projects has helped drive a recent selloff of technology stocks. That trend was fueled in part by an MIT study which found that most organizations - 95% - were getting "zero return" on their investments into AI. And Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, had given an interview recently in which he warned of an AI bubble (while still expressing his confidence in the future of the technology). In a research note earlier this week, analysts at Morgan Stanley warned that the compensation packages offered by Meta and Google to attract AI talent could threaten their ability to return capital to investors in the form of buybacks. Big spending on hiring, the analysts wrote, "has the potential to drive AI breakthroughs with massive value creation or could dilute shareholder value without any clear innovation gains." Meanwhile, OpenAI Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar said this week that the AI boom was just getting underway, adding that the industry is "voracious" for GPUs and compute. "The biggest thing we face is being constantly under compute," Friar said in an interview with CNBC. "That's why we launched Stargate, that's why we're doing the bigger builds that you see with Microsoft, Oracle, CoreWeave and so on. And we are just getting started." Stargate is the data center project OpenAI launched in conjunction with SoftBank and Oracle, initially conceived as a $500 billion effort. However, last month saw reports that the project was off to a slow start, shifting its goal from investing $100 billion immediately to constructing one data center by the end of the year.

Meta Eyeing Fourth Revamp of AI Teams in Six Months | PYMNTS.com

By completing this form, you agree to receive marketing communications from PYMNTS and to the sharing of your information with our sponsor, if applicable, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions. The tech giant's new artificial intelligence (AI) unit, Meta Superintelligence Labs, is expected to be divided into four groups, The Information reported Saturday (Aug. 16), citing sources familiar with the matter. Those sources say the four groups include a new lab known as "TBD Lab," as in "to be determined," as well as a team focused on products such as the Meta AI Assistant. There is also a team centered around infrastructure and Meta's Fundamental AI Research lab, which focuses on longer-term research. PYMNTS has contacted Meta for comment but has not yet gotten a reply. Sources tell The Information that veterans of those tech giants will be involved in the new four-quadrant AI project. For example, Jack Rae, who joined Meta from Google, is expected to oversee pretraining, in which AI models learn to predict text from trillions of words gleaned from the internet and other sources. In related news, Meta recently faced criticism over the privacy practices surrounding its AI assistant. A report earlier this month from CPO Magazine said that the tool may publicly share user prompts, and its apps may have exploited a technical loophole that lets it track Android users without their knowledge. Consumers already have privacy-related worries surrounding generative AI. Research from the PYMNTS Intelligence report "Generation AI: Why Gen Z Bets Big and Boomers Hold Back" shows that 36% of generative AI users are nervous about these platforms sharing or misusing their personal information, while 33% of non-users have avoided adopting the technology due to the same hesitations. Meanwhile, PYMNTS wrote last week about the hesitancy among some businesses to adopt AI, a reluctance often driven by cost concerns. Research by PYMNTS Intelligence shows that 46.7% of firms point to adoption costs as a chief concern.

Mark Zuckerberg's pricey new AI hires -- including 28-year-old...

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's recent acquisitions and hires in artificial intelligence have sparked major friction inside the social media giant -- with new, mega-buck AI talent clashing with the company's veteran researchers, according to a report. Alexandr Wang -- the 28-year-old billionaire who ran Scale AI before Meta "acquihired" him as chief AI officer for more than $14 billion -- is clashing with longtime engineers in a tense standoff that's roiling Zuckerberg's AI division, according to the New York Times. Shengjia Zhao -- the OpenAI researcher who co-created ChatGPT and who was named Meta's chief AI scientist in July -- has likewise been grilling longtime Meta employees about their past work as they interview for new roles in the restructured organization, according to the report. Researchers have been lining up outside Zhao's office in recent weeks as the former OpenAI star conducts these assessments, one person told the publication. Wang's arrival, meanwhile, has created friction over Meta's fundamental approach to AI development, with his superintelligence team pushing to make the company's next model "closed" -- keeping its technology secret. This marks a major departure from Meta's longtime philosophy of open-sourcing its models for other developers to build upon, causing some old guard members to chafe at the change, the Times reported. The new leadership has chosen to abandon Meta's previous frontier model called Behemoth, which saw its release delayed last spring after disappointing performance tests. Meta invested $14.3 billion in Wang's former company, Scale AI, before bringing him aboard to lead the charge against OpenAI and Google. The 41-year-old Zuckerberg has backed his new hires with nine-figure compensation packages to lure top researchers from rivals, igniting a Silicon Valley poaching war. Last month, he pitched investors on "a new era of individual empowerment" while projecting capital expenditures up to $72 billion this year. Meta's AI division faces a dramatic four-way split as Meta reorganizes into groups focused on research, superintelligence development, products, and infrastructure, according to the report. Meta is also considering downsizing the AI division, which has grown to thousands of employees, through potential role eliminations and transfers to other departments, sources said. Several high-profile departures have followed the leadership changes. Joelle Pineau, a leading Meta computer scientist, left the company this year and later joined AI startup Cohere. Angela Fan, a research scientist who worked on Meta's open-source Llama model, recently departed for OpenAI, according to the Times. Loredana Crisan, vice president of generative AI, is leaving for software company Figma as chief design officer, two sources told the paper. Former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman and Daniel Gross, who previously ran Safe Superintelligence, will lead development of new AI features under the products and applied research division. Three people with knowledge of the matter told the Times that some members of the old guard have chafed at the new hires as Meta has spent billions to bring in AI talent. The company is also actively exploring using third-party artificial intelligence models to power its products, potentially building on other open-source models or licensing closed-source technology from competitors. This would mark a shift from Meta's traditional approach of using only its own technology for AI products. Meta declined to comment on the reorganization, which was first partially reported by The Information. Meta spokesman Andy Stone mocked media coverage of the company's AI shakeup, accusing reporters of exaggerating internal restructuring. He contrasted Meta's stated goal of bringing in talent for superintelligence research with what he described as the press sensationalizing the reorganization. The restructuring represents Zuckerberg's most aggressive gamble yet as Meta races to avoid being left behind in the AI revolution reshaping Silicon Valley's power structure.

Meta Freezes AI Superteam Hiring, What's Driving Zuckerberg's Big Restructure?

Meta Pauses AI Superteam Hiring While Reshaping its AI Division into Four Focused Units Meta has decided to pause hiring for its Superintelligence Labs, calling the move a part of a "basic restructuring." The decision follows months of aggressive recruitment through which the company hired more than 50 researchers and engineers from leading rivals such as OpenAI, Google, , Anthropic, and xAI. The pause began last week, and current employees have also been told they cannot transfer to other teams inside the division. While the company hasn't said how long this freeze will last, a Meta spokesperson explained that it is part of "regular planning" and linked to yearly budgeting.

Meta plans fourth restructuring of AI efforts in six months, The Information reports

(Reuters) -Meta is planning its fourth overhaul of artificial intelligence efforts in six months, The Information reported on Friday, citing three people familiar with the matter. The company is expected to divide its new AI unit, Superintelligence Labs, into four groups: a new "TBD Lab," short for to be determined; a products team including the Meta AI assistant; an infrastructure team; and the Fundamental AI Research (FAIR) lab focused on long-term research, the report said, citing two people. Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Reuters could not independently verify the report. As Silicon Valley's AI contest intensifies, CEO Mark Zuckerberg is going all-in to fast-track work on artificial general intelligence -- machines that can outthink humans -- and help create new cash flows. Meta recently reorganized the company's AI efforts under Superintelligence Labs, a high-stakes push that followed senior staff departures and a poor reception for Meta's latest open-source Llama 4 model. The social media giant has tapped U.S. bond giant PIMCO and alternative asset manager Blue Owl Capital to spearhead a $29 billion financing for its data center expansion in rural Louisiana, Reuters reported earlier this month. In July, Zuckerberg said Meta would spend hundreds of billions of dollars to build several massive AI data centers. The company raised the bottom end of its annual capital expenditures forecast by $2 billion, to a range of $66 billion to $72 billion last month. Rising costs to build out data center infrastructure and employee compensation costs -- as Meta has been poaching researchers with mega salaries -- would push the 2026 expense growth rate above the pace in 2025, the company has said. (Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)

Meta creates new AI structure to scale up superintelligence ambitions: Report

The setup is designed to accelerate progress toward superintelligence. Meta is reshaping its artificial intelligence division as it pushes harder toward building superintelligent AI. The company is splitting its recently created AI group into four separate teams and moving many of its existing AI employees into this new structure. The reorganisation is part of Meta's broader plan to make the most of its big investments in AI talent and infrastructure. In an internal memo reviewed by Bloomberg, Alexandr Wang, the former Scale AI CEO who recently joined Meta as chief AI officer, said the new setup is designed to "accelerate" progress toward superintelligence. "Superintelligence is coming, and in order to take it seriously, we need to organize around the key areas that will be critical to reach it -- research, product and infra," Wang wrote in the memo. The group, called Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL), will now include: Also read: Google to pay $30 million to settle YouTube privacy lawsuit over kids' data People familiar with the matter clarified that no layoffs are involved in this restructuring. However, some leadership shifts are taking place. The AGI foundations group is being dissolved, and its leaders Ahmad Al-Dahle and Amir Frenkel will now focus on "strategic MSL initiatives" under Wang. Meanwhile, Loredana Crisan, who recently worked on Meta's generative AI group, is leaving the company to join Figma. The move comes as Meta has been aggressively hiring top AI talent from rivals, offering massive pay packages in the process. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has openly stated that the company's goal is to develop superintelligence, or AI that can outperform humans in completing tasks. He has also said Meta is prepared to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on talent and infrastructure to achieve this vision.