Meta Cuts 600 AI Jobs Amid Restructuring, Continues Focus on Superintelligence

Meta cuts 600 AI jobs amid ongoing reorganization | TechCrunch

Meta's chief AI officer, Alexandr Wang, wrote in a memo to staff on Wednesday that the company will cut about 600 jobs from its superintelligence lab, according to a report from Axios. Meta declined to comment, but told TechCrunch that Axios's reporting is accurate. As Meta, OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and other companies race to build the most powerful AI systems, Meta had a busy summer on the hiring front. The company poached more than 50 researchers from its competitors by offering multi-million dollar pay packages, though OpenAI CEO Sam Altman claimed that "none of [OpenAI's] best people" took the offers. "By reducing the size of our team, fewer conversations will be required to make a decision, and each person will be more load-bearing and have more scope and impact," Wang wrote in the memo to staff. This line of thinking tracks with Meta's recent "year of efficiency" -- a more sanitized way to describe the company's mass layoffs. At the time, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg told staff that "leaner is better." Now, it seems that Meta isn't lowering its overall headcount by much, but rather, reorganizing its efforts. The company claims that most of these people impacted today should be able to find another job within Meta.

Meta is reportedly downsizing its legacy AI research team

Meta is planning to axe around 600 roles within its legacy AI research division, according to a report from Axios. The layoffs will reportedly impact Meta's Fundamental AI Research unit, also known as FAIR, while the company continues to hire workers for its newly formed superintelligence team, TBD Lab. Meta kicked off an AI hiring spree after investing $14.3 billion in Scale AI and hiring CEO Alexandr Wang in June. It paused hiring just months later and announced a restructuring that will focus on AI-related products and infrastructure. Meanwhile, Meta's AI research team has taken a backseat, with FAIR leader Joelle Pineau leaving earlier this year. In August, Meta AI's head Wang said that Meta "will aim to integrate and scale many of the research ideas and projects from FAIR into the larger model runs conducted by TBD Lab." Now, Meta is reducing roles inside FAIR as it makes high-profile hires for TBD Lab. "By reducing the size of our team, fewer conversations will be required to make a decision, and each person will be more load-bearing and have more scope and impact," Wang writes in a memo seen by Axios. The layoffs will also affect roles within its AI product and infrastructure teams, though Meta will allow impacted employees to apply for other roles within the company, Axios reports. The Verge reached out to Meta with a request for comment.

Meta to cut around 600 roles in Superintelligence Labs AI unit

Oct 22 (Reuters) - Meta (META.O), opens new tab is cutting around 600 positions out of the several thousand roles in its Superintelligence Labs, the Facebook owner said on Wednesday as it looks to make its artificial intelligence unit more flexible and responsive. The job cuts will affect Facebook Artificial Intelligence Research (FAIR) unit, as well as teams focused on product-related AI and AI infrastructure, the company said. The newly formed TBD Lab, which comprises "a few dozen" researchers and engineers developing Meta's next-generation foundation models, will not be affected. Axios first reported the job cuts announcement, citing a company memo. Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang said fewer team members would streamline decision-making and increase the responsibility, scope and impact of each role. The company said it was encouraging affected employees to apply for other jobs within Meta. Meta on Tuesday struck a $27 billion financing deal with Blue Owl Capital (OWL.N), opens new tab, the company's largest-ever private capital agreement, to fund its biggest data center project. Some analysts said the deal will allow Meta to achieve its massive AI ambitions by shifting much of the upfront cost and risk to external capital, while retaining a smaller ownership share in the project. The parent of Facebook and Instagram reorganized its AI efforts under Superintelligence Labs in June after senior staff departures and a poor reception for its open-source Llama 4 model. CEO Mark Zuckerberg personally led an aggressive hiring spree for the unit to revitalize Meta's AI efforts. Superintelligence Labs includes Meta's foundations, product and FAIR teams as well as TBD Lab that is focused on developing the company's next generation of AI models. The company began investing in AI in 2013 by launching FAIR unit and recruiting Yann LeCun, its chief AI scientist, to lead the effort and building a global research network focused on deep learning. Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore and Arun Koyyur Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Meta cutting 600 AI jobs even as it continues to hire more for its superintelligence lab

MENLO PARK, Calif. (AP) -- Meta Platforms is cutting roughly 600 artificial intelligence jobs even as it continues to hire more workers for its superintelligence lab, the company confirmed on Wednesday. Axios first reported the cuts, which will affect Meta's Fundamental AI Research, or FAIR unit, as well as product-related AI and AI infrastructure units. Its newer TBD Lab unit won't be affected. Citing a memo sent to workers by chief AI officer Alexandr Wang, Axios said the company is encouraging employees affected to apply for other jobs at Meta, with most expected to find other roles. The Menlo Park, California-based company is also still recruiting and hiring for TBD Lab, which is developing Meta's latest large language models. Large language models are the technology behind OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's Gemini -- and Meta's Llama. Meta has taken a different approach to AI than many of its rivals, releasing its flagship Llama system for free as an open-source product that enables people to use and modify some of its key components. Meta says more than a billion people use its AI products each month, but it's also widely seen as lagging behind competitors such as OpenAI and Google in encouraging consumer use of large language models, also known as LLMs.

Meta lays off 600 employees within AI unit

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta Platforms.David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images Meta will lay off roughly 600 employees within its artificial intelligence unit as the company looks to reduce layers and operate more nimbly, a spokesperson confirmed to CNBC on Wednesday. The company announced the cuts in a memo from its Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang, who was hired in June as part of Meta's $14.3 billion investment in Scale AI. Workers across Meta's AI infrastructure units, Fundamental Artificial Intelligence Research unit and other product-related positions will be impacted. Axios was first to report the cuts. Meta has been aggressively investing in AI as it works to keep pace with rivals like OpenAI and Google, pouring billions of dollars into infrastructure projects and recruitment. On Tuesday, the company announced a $27 billion deal with Blue Owl Capital to fund and develop its massive Hyperion data center in rural Louisiana. The data center is expected to be large enough to cover a "significant part of the footprint of Manhattan," Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a post in July.

Meta Plans to Cut 600 Jobs at A.I. Superintelligence Labs

Meta on Wednesday said that it plans to cut approximately 600 jobs in its artificial intelligence division, according to a memo sent to employees that was relayed to The New York Times, as the company seeks to keep pace with competitors in the furious contest over the technology. The layoffs will be in Meta's so-called Superintelligence Labs, which is the umbrella name for the company's A.I. efforts. The division has a few thousand employees, though the exact number of workers was unclear. Mark Zuckerberg, Meta's chief executive, has been on a hiring spree to stack his company with top A.I. researchers, including a new chief A.I. officer, Alexandr Wang, earlier this year. The cuts on Wednesday do not affect these newest hires, who have been empowered to develop "superintelligence," or artificial intelligence that exceeds the human brain. Instead, the job cuts are aimed at cleaning up the organizational bloat that resulted from three years of building up Meta's A.I. efforts too quickly, two people with knowledge of the matter said. The layoffs aim to help Meta develop A.I. products more quickly, they said. "By reducing the size of our team, fewer conversations will be required to make a decision, and each person will be more load-bearing and have more scope and impact," Mr. Wang wrote in the memo circulated to employees. The cuts, which were earlier reported by Axios, come at an intensely competitive time for Meta, which has spent the past three years dealing with the rapid onset of A.I. After ChatGPT burst onto the scene in 2022, OpenAI, Google and Microsoft began hiring furiously to build the next generation of A.I. chatbots and other products. Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, struggled to keep up with the pack. After early success developing its open-source A.I. model, called Llama, its progress stagnated. The company went on a fresh hiring spree and made strategic errors, leading to product development issues over the past 18 months. After a rocky first half of this year, Mr. Zuckerberg moved to restart the A.I. efforts. In June, he invested $14.3 billion in ScaleAI, an artificial intelligence start-up that was co-founded by Mr. Wang. Mr. Zuckerberg then brought ScaleAI's top talent to Meta's Superintelligence Labs, including Mr. Wang. Mr. Zuckerberg has since also spent billions recruiting top researchers from other A.I. labs and companies, including OpenAI, Google and Microsoft. Meta has dangled pay packages to some that number well into the hundreds of millions of dollars. In August, Mr. Zuckerberg split Meta Superintelligence into four groups. One is called FAIR, which is focused on A.I. research; a second is working on superintelligence; another on products; and a fourth on infrastructure, such as data centers and other A.I. hardware. The planned cuts will affect employees at FAIR and in the product division, according to Mr. Wang's memo. Employees who are laid off were set to receive emails by 10 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, and the company plans to try to find other positions internally for those affected. No cuts will be made to TBD, the team building superintelligence and managing Meta's large language models, which drive chatbots and other A.I. products, the people with knowledge of the situation said. The company is still hiring A.I. researchers in the TBD unit, which is managed by Mr. Wang, the people said. Meta executives have emphasized that the cuts do not mean they are retrenching on A.I. efforts, and that superintelligence remains among Mr. Zuckerberg's top priorities for the company.

Meta Reportedly Laying Off Hundreds From Its AI Team

Meta has thrown billions of dollars at its artificial intelligence efforts. Somehow, that is apparently resulting in fewer people being employed. According to a report from Axios, about 600 people lost their jobs in Meta's "superintelligence" lab in an effort to create a less "bureaucratic" structure. The cuts will reportedly primarily hit Meta's FAIR AI research lab, which was the company's long-standing AI research unit, as well as the company's product-related AI teams and its AI infrastructure units. "By reducing the size of our team, fewer conversations will be required to make a decision, and each person will be more load-bearing and have more scope and impact," Meta chief AI officer Alexandr Wang said in a memo obtained by Axios. TBD Lab, which is tasked with "developing the next generation" of the company's large language models, was reportedly spared from the layoffs. The company also reportedly encouraged the employees affected by the layoffs to apply for other open positions within the company, with Wang writing, "This is a talented group of individuals, and we need their skills in other parts of the company." No word on whether there were efforts to move people into those roles before telling them to put their belongings in a box. The restructuring is just the latest example of Meta desperately playing catch-up in the AI race. Earlier this year, the company made waves with a hiring spree that saw it throw massive, multi-million dollar paydays at top talent in an effort to poach them from its rivals. It succeeded in luring them away, but hasn't necessarily figured out what comes next. Some recipients of those big signing bonuses threatened to leave within weeks of joining the company, according to the Financial Times, presumably over the lack of direction within the company. Others did dip, reportedly including people who had been with Meta for years. Zuck's company has seemingly yet to figure out what the shape of its AI operation should be. In addition to shelling out NBA max contract-sized payouts, the company poured $15 billion into Scale to get the company's talent and infrastructure. Since absorbing all that, it has failed to figure out what to do with it. It announced its Superintelligence initiative first to unify its efforts in the AI space, but broke it up into multiple divisions within a matter of weeks. In the meantime, it looks like it's the employees that Meta isn't spending millions of dollars on who will be penalized for organizational incompetence.

Meta cuts 600 workers in AI unit as it races to compete in tech boom

Meta is cutting roughly 600 positions in its artificial intelligence unit, in a reorganization of its workforce to better compete in the global AI race. Meta chief AI officer Alexandr Wang, who was poached earlier this year from the start-up Scale AI, informed employees in a memo on Wednesday that the cuts were designed to reduce the size of the team, and quicken decision-making so that the AI team can have more impact. The move was first reported by Axios, and later confirmed by Meta spokesman Dave Arnold. The cuts will affect the company's product AI teams, AI infrastructure teams and the FAIR AI research department, which are part of an overarching "superintelligence" lab that has several thousand employees. The cuts will not affect Meta's newly created TBD lab, Meta confirmed. Meta is still expected to continue hiring for the lab. The reorganization is the latest in a string of changes that started this year when Meta created a new team dedicated to creating superintelligence, a term for machines hoped to one day outperform humans. Meta announced it bought a $14.3 billion investment in AI start-up Scale AI, and then brought in Wang, who founded the start-up, to lead the company's AI division. Since then, Meta has poached top talent artificial-intelligence researchers and engineers away from OpenAI, Apple and Google with eye-popping high salaries. Zuckerberg has said that he wants to build "the most elite and talent-dense team in the industry." And he has said in a podcast interview that there is "an absolute premium for the best and most talented people." But as the tech company has built up and recruited new talent for its AI lab, others have left the company. In April, Joelle Pineau, who worked at Meta for about eight years, announced that she was leaving her post leading the Meta AI research lab FAIR. During her tenure, Meta sought to reshape the once-independent artificial-research lab to be more aligned with the company's business and product priorities.

Meta lays off 600 in AI division despite billion-dollar AI push

On Wednesday, Meta's Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang announced in a memo that the company is laying off approximately 600 employees within its AI unit. The news, first reported by Axios and confirmed by CNBC, affects staff working on AI infrastructure, the Fundamental Artificial Intelligence Research (FAIR) group, and other product-related teams. Despite the cuts, Meta says it's still hiring for its new superintelligence division, dubbed TBD Lab. Impacted employees were told their last day will be Nov. 21 and are currently in a "non-working notice period." The company is offering 16 weeks of severance pay, plus two additional weeks for every year of service, and is encouraging affected employees to apply for other roles within Meta. "By reducing the size of our team, fewer conversations will be required to make a decision, and each person will be more load-bearing and have more scope and impact," Wang wrote in the internal memo, according to TechCrunch. The layoffs don't appear to signal a retreat from AI. Just a day earlier, Reuters reported that Meta closed a $27 billion financing deal with Blue Owl Capital to fund a massive data center expansion -- a move analysts say is key to supporting its next generation of AI tools. This also follows an aggressive AI hiring spree. In recent months, Meta has lured top talent from OpenAI, brought Wang on board, and invested $14.3 billion in Scale AI.

Exclusive: Meta overhauls its legacy AI operations

Why it matters: The company concluded that its long-standing AI efforts had become overly bureaucratic and hopes the reorganization will create a more agile operation, according to an internal memo seen by Axios. * "By reducing the size of our team, fewer conversations will be required to make a decision, and each person will be more load-bearing and have more scope and impact," Meta Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang wrote in the memo. Driving the news: Meta is cutting roughly 600 positions out of the several thousand roles within Meta's superintelligence lab, Axios has learned. * The cuts will affect the company's FAIR AI research unit, product-related AI and AI infrastructure units, while sparing the newly formed TBD Lab unit. * U.S. employees will learn by 7 a.m. Pacific time whether their jobs are affected, Wang said in the memo. * The company is encouraging affected employees to apply for other jobs within Meta and expects most will find another position internally. * "This is a talented group of individuals, and we need their skills in other parts of the company," Wang said. The other side: The company is still actively recruiting and hiring for its TBD Lab unit. * Most recently, the company hired OpenAI research scientist Ananya Kumar, according to a source. * Before that, Meta nabbed Andrew Tulloch, a co-founder of Mira Murati's Thinking Machines. Between the lines: CEO Mark Zuckerberg grew concerned several months ago that the company's existing AI efforts weren't leading to needed breakthroughs or improved performance.

Zuckerberg Firing Hundreds of AI Developers After Hiring Spree

Mark Zuckerberg's Meta is once again shaking up its artificial intelligence unit: as Axios reports, the company is cutting some 600 roles from its so-called Superintelligence lab. Meta AI chief Alexandr Wang noted in a memo that the company is looking to streamline the greater AI department. "By reducing the size of our team, fewer conversations will be required to make a decision, and each person will be more load-bearing and have more scope and impact," he wrote, as quoted by Axios. It's a notable new development, considering Zuckerberg has personally led an aggressive hiring spree earlier this year, trying to court AI talent by offering workers up to $1 billion, multi-year job contracts. (The company says it's continuing to hire for its TBD Lab, which was created last month to work on next-generation AI models, and encouraging the culled Superintelligence workers to apply for other roles within Meta.) Still, it's a sign of turmoil at Meta, which has been swept up in the heated AI race, spending copious amounts to secure talent. In June, the company paid $15 billion for a 49 percent stake in Scale AI, appointing then-CEO Wang as the lead of its own AI efforts, and onboarding a number of the company's 1,500 staffers. In July, Zuckerberg announced Meta's Superintelligence AI lab, as part of a poorly-defined effort to create a "personal superintelligence" that "helps you achieve your goals." Less than a month later, the Wall Street Journal reported that the company was freezing AI hiring as part of a "basic organizational planning" process. At the time, Meta split the Superintelligence team into four teams, including its TBD Lab. A separate AI safety-focused team, dubbed FAIR, will also be affected by the latest layoffs. However, Zuckerberg couldn't stay away from acquiring new talent, hiring Thinking Machines cofounder Andrew Tulloch earlier this month, as well as OpenAI research scientist Ananya Kumar, per Axios' sources. In short, the company's AI efforts have already gone through several major changes as Meta continues to stay relevant in the ongoing AI race. Just earlier this week, Meta announced it was entering a partnership with Blue Owl Capital as part of an enormous $27 billion AI data center project. Executives have maintained that the latest cuts are a sign of capitulation on its AI efforts and that superintelligence remains a top priority. Meanwhile, the industry is continuing to search for ways of generating revenue to start making up for billions of dollars in losses. Analysts are warning of a growing AI bubble that could burst at any moment, potentially taking down the US economy with it. Whether Zuckerberg's major bets on the tech and his burning desire to hire new talent will allow Meta to weather such a storm remains to be seen.

Meta to axe hundreds of AI jobs after offering $100m signing bonuses

Meta is to cut 600 artificial intelligence (AI) jobs after a hiring spree in which the Facebook owner offered signing bonuses worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The social media giant will cut staff from its new superintelligence division, which has several thousand employees, with the lay-offs primarily affecting managers and members of its Facebook Artificial Intelligence Research (Fair) unit. It comes after a multibillion-dollar hiring spree personally led by Meta's billionaire founder, Mark Zuckerberg. The Facebook founder scooped up dozens of talented AI researchers from rivals by dangling vast bonuses and share deals, with some worth north of $100m (£75m). Meta reportedly even offered a $1bn deal to one executive, Andrew Tulloch, the co-founder of Thinking Machines, an AI start-up. Meta disputed the size of the alleged deal, calling it "ridiculous". The pay deals have been seen as an indication of the exuberance in the tech sector amid concerns over an AI bubble. Mr Zuckerberg has promised to spend $65bn this year alone to catch up with rivals such as OpenAI, the ChatGPT developer. Mr Zuckerberg also hired Alexandr Wang, the former chief executive of Scale AI, this year to lead its "superintelligence" team. The deal saw Meta take a 49pc stake in Scale AI for $14.3bn. The job cuts will reportedly fall heavily on Meta's Fair division, which previously led much of its fundamental AI research. The lab has already lost its head, Joelle Pineau, who quit earlier this year to join AI start-up Cohere. While Meta's Fair team led the original work on the company's AI technology, known as Llama, Mr Zuckerberg has this year repeatedly shaken up and restructured its AI division, delaying the release of a new technology amid concerns over its performance. 'Small, talent-dense teams' Mr Wang has since been tasked with leading Meta's renewed AI push, and Mr Zuckerberg has sought to concentrate on working with a smaller, core team. In July, Mr Zuckerberg said: "I've just gotten a little bit more convinced around the ability for small, talent-dense teams to be the optimal configuration for driving frontier research." However, the first products from Meta's new superintelligence team have been met with criticism. An AI video app it launched, called Vibes, was derided as an "infinite slop machine". "By reducing the size of our team, fewer conversations will be required to make a decision, and each person will be more load-bearing and have more scope and impact," Alexandr Wang, Meta's chief AI officer, said in a note to staff. Axios first reported the memo. Some of the staff will be offered roles in other parts of the business. "This is a talented group of individuals, and we need their skills in other parts of the company," Mr Wang said.

Meta lays off 600 AI workers to streamline its Superintelligence Labs unit - SiliconANGLE

Meta lays off 600 AI workers to streamline its Superintelligence Labs unit In a surprising move that bucks the trend of Silicon Valley companies aggressively hiring almost anyone with artificial intelligence skills, Meta Platforms Inc. is letting go of more than 600 people from its AI teams. The news was first reported today by Axios, and Meta today confirmed it in a statement to TechCrunch. The layoffs will affect three of the company's four AI teams, including its legacy research, product and infrastructure units. The smaller Meta TBD Lab, which is a new division within the company's Superintelligence Labs organization, is not affected by the cuts. The layoffs were announced by Meta Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang in an email to employees, who gave the usual excuse that smaller teams get more work done. "By reducing the size of our team, fewer conversations will be required to make a decision, and each person will be more load-bearing and have more scope and impact," Wang reportedly wrote in the email. A report by CNBC quoted an anonymous source within Meta as saying that Wang considered the AI unit to be bloated, with teams such as FAIR and product-oriented groups competing for compute resources. Moreover, when Meta went on a hiring spree this summer to create its Superintelligence Labs, that new unit inherited the oversized teams. Axios said some of the affected employees have been told they're now in a "non-working notice period" and do not have to go to work. They'll officially be terminated on Nov. 21, and they'll be able to use the intervening time to search for another role at Meta if they wish. Should they leave the company, they'll get at least 16 weeks of severance pay. Beyond Wang's reasoning that smaller teams will be able to work more efficiently, the move may be seen as a cost-cutting measure by Meta. The company's spending has escalated dramatically in the last couple of years, with billions of dollars being spent on building out the data center infrastructure necessary to power its AI systems. By laying off 600 workers, the company should be able to save several million. Still, that's only a small dent for a company that estimated its fiscal 2025 expenses will come to around $116 billion. The layoffs may also have something to do with growing frustration by Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg (pictured) with the company's progress in AI. Its Llama 4 models received only a tepid response when they were released in April. It has had very little to show for its AI investments since, while rivals such as OpenAI, Anthropic PBC and Google LLC continue to release newer, more powerful AI models. Meta had already laid off thousands of non-AI staff earlier this year, pushing out "low performers," but then in the summer it changed tack and went on a mini hiring blitz, dishing out multimillion-dollar salaries to some of the best AI developers in the business. In addition to hiring Wang, Meta also bought a chunk of his former business Scale AI Inc. and hired former GitHub Inc. CEO Nat Friedman and Safe Superintelligence CEO Daniel Gross. In addition, it reportedly poached a number of researchers from OpenAI and Google in order to staff the new TBD Lab. However, Zuckerberg perhaps hinted at the layoffs earlier this summer when he said the company doesn't need a "massive" team to make breakthroughs in AI. Echoing Wang's words today, he said that it's better to go with "the smallest group of people who can fit the whole thing in their head, so there's just an absolute premium for the best and most talented people." Even so, the layoffs are unprecedented in an AI industry that to date has been all about spending money, and it'll be interesting to see if any of Meta's competitors make similar moves in the months to come. Meta is scheduled to report its third-quarter earnings results next week, when it may reveal more about the reasons for these layoffs -- or not.

Meta AI layoffs today: 600 jobs are already being cut from Alexandr Wang's superintelligence lab

Fast Company has reached out to Meta for comment. That lab, dedicated to pursuing an artificial intelligence system that would reportedly surpass human intelligence, was announced back in June after Meta said it was investing $14.3 billion in Alexandr Wang's Scale AI and bringing him on board. The cuts come as Big Tech ramps up its investment in artificial intelligence, pouring billions in an increasingly competitive, high-stakes AI arms race. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says the social technology company plans to invest between $60 billion and $65 billion in capital expenditures in 2025 alone.

Meta cutting 600 AI jobs even as it continues to hire more for its superintelligence lab

MENLO PARK, Calif. (AP) -- Meta Platforms is cutting roughly 600 artificial intelligence jobs even as it continues to hire more workers for its superintelligence lab, the company confirmed on Wednesday. Axios first reported the cuts, which will affect Meta's Fundamental AI Research, or FAIR unit, as well as product-related AI and AI infrastructure units. Its newer TBD Lab unit won't be affected. Citing a memo sent to workers by chief AI officer Alexandr Wang, Axios said the company is encouraging employees affected to apply for other jobs at Meta, with most expected to find other roles. The Menlo Park, California-based company is also still recruiting and hiring for TBD Lab, which is developing Meta's latest large language models. Large language models are the technology behind OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's Gemini -- and Meta's Llama. Meta has taken a different approach to AI than many of its rivals, releasing its flagship Llama system for free as an open-source product that enables people to use and modify some of its key components. Meta says more than a billion people use its AI products each month, but it's also widely seen as lagging behind competitors such as OpenAI and Google in encouraging consumer use of large language models, also known as LLMs.

Meta Cutting 600 AI Jobs Even as It Continues to Hire More for Its Superintelligence Lab

MENLO PARK, Calif. (AP) -- Meta Platforms is cutting roughly 600 artificial intelligence jobs even as it continues to hire more workers for its superintelligence lab, the company confirmed on Wednesday. Axios first reported the cuts, which will affect Meta's Fundamental AI Research, or FAIR unit, as well as product-related AI and AI infrastructure units. Its newer TBD Lab unit won't be affected. Citing a memo sent to workers by chief AI officer Alexandr Wang, Axios said the company is encouraging employees affected to apply for other jobs at Meta, with most expected to find other roles. The Menlo Park, California-based company is also still recruiting and hiring for TBD Lab, which is developing Meta's latest large language models. Large language models are the technology behind OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's Gemini -- and Meta's Llama. Meta has taken a different approach to AI than many of its rivals, releasing its flagship Llama system for free as an open-source product that enables people to use and modify some of its key components. Meta says more than a billion people use its AI products each month, but it's also widely seen as lagging behind competitors such as OpenAI and Google in encouraging consumer use of large language models, also known as LLMs.

Meta Is Laying Off 600 Workers in Its AI Division -- What You Need to Know

Booming profits and demand for AI hasn't stopped Meta (META) from laying off employees. The Facebook and Instagram parent is trimming about 600 roles in parts of its Superintelligence Labs led by Alexandr Wang, Axios reported Wednesday, though the company continues to hire for other AI-related positions in the unit. The company's newly formed "TBD Lab" unit of its Superintelligence Labs -- which includes many of its high-profile AI hires poached from other companies in recent months -- has been spared from the layoffs, according to the report. Meta didn't respond to an Investopedia request for comment in time for publication. Meta is reportedly encouraging employees who received notice to apply for other roles internally, expecting that many will be absorbed by other departments. Back in July, CFO Susan Li told investors that Meta planned to grow its overall headcount through 2026 after a large round of layoffs earlier in the year, according to a transcript provided by AlphaSense, though the company reportedly moved to freeze AI hiring in August amid concerns about growing costs. Meta, which is set to report earnings next Wednesday, is not the only big tech giant that's made cuts this year. Several of its Magnificent 7 peers including Microsoft (MSFT), Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) and Amazon (AMZN) have undergone layoffs in recent months even as their revenues rose. That's added to worries that growing spending on AI could lead major technology companies to announce more job cuts in a bid to maintain profit margins. Shares of Meta closed fractionally higher on Wednesday. They've added roughly one-quarter of their value in 2025.

Meta plans to cut 600 jobs at AI Superintelligence Labs

SAN FRANCISCO -- Meta on Wednesday said that it plans to cut approximately 600 jobs in its artificial intelligence division, according to a memo sent to employees that was relayed to The New York Times, as the company seeks to keep pace with competitors in the furious contest over the technology. The layoffs will be in Meta's so-called Superintelligence Labs, which is the umbrella name for the company's AI efforts. The division has a few thousand employees, though the exact number of workers was unclear. Mark Zuckerberg, Meta's chief executive, has been on a hiring spree to stack his company with top AI researchers, including a new chief AI officer, Alexandr Wang, earlier this year. The cuts on Wednesday do not affect these newest hires, who have been empowered to develop "superintelligence," or artificial intelligence that exceeds the human brain. Instead, the job cuts are aimed at cleaning up the organizational bloat that resulted from three years of building up Meta's AI efforts too quickly, two people with knowledge of the matter said. The layoffs aim to help Meta develop AI products more quickly, they said. "By reducing the size of our team, fewer conversations will be required to make a decision, and each person will be more load-bearing and have more scope and impact," Wang wrote in the memo circulated to employees. The cuts, which were earlier reported by Axios, come at an intensely competitive time for Meta, which has spent the past three years dealing with the rapid onset of AI. After ChatGPT burst onto the scene in 2022, OpenAI, Google and Microsoft began hiring furiously to build the next generation of AI chatbots and other products. Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, struggled to keep up with the pack. After early success developing its open-source AI model, called Llama, its progress stagnated. The company went on a fresh hiring spree and made strategic errors, leading to product development issues over the past 18 months. After a rocky first half of this year, Zuckerberg moved to restart the AI efforts. In June, he invested $14.3 billion in ScaleAI, an artificial intelligence startup that was cofounded by Wang. Zuckerberg then brought ScaleAI's top talent to Meta's Superintelligence Labs, including Wang. Zuckerberg has since also spent billions recruiting top researchers from other AI labs and companies, including OpenAI, Google and Microsoft. Meta has dangled pay packages to some that number well into the hundreds of millions of dollars. In August, Zuckerberg split Meta Superintelligence into four groups. One is called FAIR, which is focused on AI research; a second is working on superintelligence; another on products; and a fourth on infrastructure, such as data centers and other AI hardware. The planned cuts will affect employees at FAIR and in the product division, according to Wang's memo. Employees who are laid off were set to receive emails by 10 a.m. ET, and the company plans to try to find other positions internally for those affected. No cuts will be made to TBD, the team building superintelligence and managing Meta's large language models, which drive chatbots and other AI products, the people with knowledge of the situation said. The company is still hiring AI researchers in the TBD unit, which is managed by Wang, the people said. Meta executives have emphasized that the cuts do not mean they are retrenching on AI efforts, and that superintelligence remains among Zuckerberg's top priorities for the company.

Meta layoffs: After offering billion dollar pay packages, Mark Zuckerberg-led firm to cut 600 AI jobs

Meta is tightening its focus on artificial intelligence, announcing job cuts that will impact around 600 employees across several key AI divisions. The move comes amid a broader restructuring of its Superintelligence Labs and follows the company's record-breaking financing deal to accelerate data center expansion. ALSO READ: Corporate China in turmoil after Yu Menglong's sudden death sends shockwave According to a report from Axios, Meta plans to cut around 600 roles within its Superintelligence Labs, a key division driving the company's artificial intelligence development. The layoffs affect the Facebook Artificial Intelligence Research (FAIR) unit, as well as product-related AI and AI infrastructure teams, though the newly formed TBD Lab will remain untouched, as per a report by Reuters. Chief AI officer Alexandr Wang reportedly told staff that reducing team size would "streamline decision-making and increase the responsibility, scope, and impact of each role." The move reflects Meta's effort to tighten operations while continuing to invest heavily in next-generation AI systems, as per a report by Reuters. ALSO READ: Poland warns Putin: Enter our airspace and you will be forced down, sent to the Hague Just a day before the reported layoffs, Meta finalized a $27 billion financing deal with Blue Owl Capital, its largest-ever private capital agreement. The funds will support the company's largest data center project, crucial for powering future AI models and infrastructure, as per a report by Reuters. Analysts say the financing will help Meta scale its AI ambitions by shifting upfront costs to external investors while maintaining control of its long-term projects, as per a report by Reuters. ALSO READ: Taylor Swift worried about Travis Kelce's drug history -- insiders say it's taking a toll Meta reorganized its AI research earlier this year under the Superintelligence Labs banner after several senior staff departures and the lukewarm reception of its Llama 4 model. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has vowed to invest "hundreds of billions of dollars" into new data centers capable of supporting superintelligence, a point where machines could rival human capabilities, as per a report by Reuters. Meta began its AI journey in 2013 with the launch of FAIR and the recruitment of Yann LeCun, one of the pioneers of deep learning. Despite the restructuring, Meta remains committed to advancing AI, betting that leaner teams and massive infrastructure investments will push it closer to its superintelligence goals. Which Meta units are affected by the layoffs? The cuts impact FAIR, product-related AI, and AI infrastructure teams. Will employees lose their jobs permanently? Meta says most affected staff are encouraged to apply for other roles within the company.

Meta's AI Shakeup: 600 Jobs Cut To Speed Up Progress - Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) confirmed on Wednesday that about 600 roles will be eliminated from its artificial intelligence division as part of an effort to streamline operations and become more agile. META stock is moving. See the real-time price action here. Job Cuts The decision was disclosed in an internal memo from Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang, who joined the company in June following Meta's $14.3 billion investment in Scale AI. Read Next: Latest Beyond Meat Short-Seller? Martin Shkreli, Of Course The layoffs will affect staff in AI infrastructure, Fundamental Research and product-related teams, according to Axios. Some employees were informed Wednesday that their official end date is Nov. 21. Until then, they will remain on a nonworking notice period without system access, but can apply for new internal positions. Meta will provide 16 weeks of severance pay plus two additional weeks for each full year of service, minus the notice period. AI Strategy The company has been restructuring its AI strategy to compete with OpenAI and Google, investing heavily in computing resources and hiring. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has expressed dissatisfaction with Meta's AI momentum, particularly after the lukewarm reception of the Llama 4 models launched in April. Following the Scale AI deal, he introduced Meta Superintelligence Labs, led by Wang and former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman. In July's earnings update, Meta projected 2025 expenses between $114 billion and $118 billion, raising its earlier forecast and noting that AI spending will drive even higher growth in 2026. The company is set to report its third-quarter results next week. Read Next: Elon Musk Says Head Of NASA Has '2 Digit IQ' -- SpaceX's Moon Deal Hangs In Balance Photo: Shutterstock METAMeta Platforms Inc$732.19-0.15%Overview 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 is cutting around 600 roles in AI unit: Axios - The Economic Times

Meta is reportedly cutting approximately 600 roles within its Superintelligence Labs AI unit, impacting FAIR, product AI, and AI infrastructure teams. The TBD Lab, however, remains unaffected by these layoffs. This move follows a reorganization of Meta's AI efforts in June.Meta is cutting roughly 600 positions out of the several thousand roles within its Superintelligence Labs artificial intelligence unit, Axios reported on Wednesday. The cuts will affect the company's Facebook Artificial Intelligence Research (FAIR) unit, product-related AI and AI infrastructure units, while sparing the newly formed TBD Lab, according to the report, which cited an internal memo. Meta did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Reuters could not independently verify the report. The parent of Facebook and Instagram reorganized its AI efforts under Superintelligence Labs in June after senior staff departures and a poor reception for its open-source Llama 4 model. CEO Mark Zuckerberg had said in July Meta would spend hundreds of billions of dollars to build several massive AI data centers for Superintelligence. The company began investing in AI in 2013, with the launch of FAIR and recruiting Yann LeCun, its chief AI scientist, to lead the effort and building a global research network focused on deep learning.

Meta Cuts 600 Roles in AI Unit to Make It More Agile | 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 cuts will not affect Meta's newly formed TBD Lab unit and will instead target its FAIR AI research, product-related AI and AI infrastructure units, Axios reported Wednesday (Oct. 22), citing an internal memo from Meta Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang. "By reducing the size of our team, fewer conversations will be required to make a decision, and each person will be more load-bearing and have more scope and impact," Wang wrote in the memo, per the report. Meta did not immediately reply to PYMNTS' request for comment. Meta expects that most of the employees affected by the cuts will find another position within the company, according to the Axios report. The company is still hiring for its TBD Lab unit. It was reported in June that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg had grown frustrated with the company's limitations in AI and was personally recruiting AI researchers and engineers. Later that month, it was reported that Meta took a 49% stake in data-labeling startup Scale AI and hired its founder, Wang, to join Meta's new superintelligence unit. A massive recruitment drive continued through the summer until late August, when it was reported that Meta paused hiring for AI professionals and was restructuring its AI division. During a July earnings call, Zuckerberg said "personal superintelligence" clipped to a user's glasses might be the next smartphone. "Over the last few months, we've begun to see glimpses of our AI systems improving themselves, and the improvement is slow for now, but undeniable," Zuckerberg said. "Developing superintelligence, which we define as AI that surpasses human intelligence in every way, is now in sight. Meta's vision is to bring personal superintelligence to everyone so that people can direct it toward what they value in their own lives."

Meta slashing 600 jobs in AI unit after splurging on new hires: report

Meta is cutting roughly 600 positions out of the several thousand roles within its Superintelligence Labs artificial intelligence unit, Axios reported on Wednesday. The cuts will affect the company's Facebook Artificial Intelligence Research (FAIR) unit, product-related AI and AI infrastructure units, while sparing the newly formed TBD Lab, according to the report, which cited an internal memo. Fewer team members would streamline decision-making and increase the responsibility, scope and impact of each role, the report said, quoting Alexandr Wang, the company's chief AI officer. Meta did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Reuters could not independently verify the report. The company is encouraging affected employees to apply for other jobs within Meta and expects most will find a position internally, the report said. On Tuesday, Meta struck a $27 billion financing deal with Blue Owl Capital, the company's largest-ever private capital agreement, to fund its biggest data center project. Some analysts said the deal will allow Meta to achieve its massive AI ambitions by shifting much of the upfront cost and risk to external capital, while retaining a smaller ownership share in the project. The parent of Facebook and Instagram reorganized its AI efforts under Superintelligence Labs in June after senior staff departures and a poor reception for its open-source Llama 4 model. CEO Mark Zuckerberg personally led an aggressive hiring spree for the unit to revitalize Meta's AI efforts. Zuckerberg said in July the company would spend hundreds of billions of dollars to build several massive AI data centers for superintelligence, a theoretical milestone where machines could match or surpass human capabilities. The company began investing in AI in 2013, with the launch of FAIR and recruiting Yann LeCun, its chief AI scientist, to lead the effort and building a global research network focused on deep learning.

Meta to Cut Hundreds of Jobs Within AI Unit, Axios Reports, Citing Internal Memo

-- Meta Platforms is cutting roughly 600 positions out of the several thousand roles within its artificial-intelligence unit, Axios reported, citing an internal memo seen by the company. -- "By reducing the size of our team, fewer conversations will be required to make a decision, and each person will be more load-bearing and have more scope and impact," Meta Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang wrote in the memo, Axios said. -- The cuts will affect Meta's FAIR AI research, product-related AI and AI infrastructure units, while sparing the newly formed TBD Lab unit, the report said. It added that Meta is encouraging affected employees to apply for other jobs within the company and expects most to find another position internally.

Meta is cutting around 600 roles in AI unit, Axios reports

(Reuters) -Meta is cutting roughly 600 positions out of the several thousand roles within its Superintelligence Labs artificial intelligence unit, Axios reported on Wednesday. The cuts will affect the company's Facebook Artificial Intelligence Research (FAIR) unit, product-related AI and AI infrastructure units, while sparing the newly formed TBD Lab, according to the report, which cited an internal memo. Meta did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Reuters could not independently verify the report. The parent of Facebook and Instagram reorganized its AI efforts under Superintelligence Labs in June after senior staff departures and a poor reception for its open-source Llama 4 model. CEO Mark Zuckerberg had said in July Meta would spend hundreds of billions of dollars to build several massive AI data centers for Superintelligence. The company began investing in AI in 2013, with the launch of FAIR and recruiting Yann LeCun, its chief AI scientist, to lead the effort and building a global research network focused on deep learning. (Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)