Meta, the parent of Facebook and Instagram, eliminates 600 positions in its artificial intelligence division, US media report. The company confirms the cuts on Wednesday while continuing to recruit workers for its superintelligence lab.
Axios reveals the layoffs will hit Meta’s Fundamental AI Research (FAIR) unit, product-focused AI, and AI infrastructure teams. Meta keeps its newer TBD Lab untouched. Chief AI officer Alexandr Wang, in a memo cited by Axios, urges affected employees to apply for other internal roles. Most displaced workers are expected to secure new positions within the company.
Meta Aims for Leaner Decision-Making
Wang writes that smaller teams will simplify decision-making and expand each person’s responsibility, scope, and impact. Meta continues hiring for TBD Lab, which develops the company’s latest large language models (LLMs). These models power systems such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, and Meta’s Llama.
Meta’s Distinct AI Strategy
Meta pursues a different path from its competitors by offering its Llama model as a semi-open source product. This approach lets users access and modify key elements of the system. The company claims over one billion people use its AI tools monthly. Despite that reach, analysts often view Meta as slower than OpenAI and Google in promoting large language model adoption among consumers.
