Key Points
- Meta is cutting about 600 jobs in its artificial intelligence division. The layoffs affect several units, including the respected FAIR research team.
- At the same time, the company is still aggressively hiring for its “superintelligence” lab, TBD Lab.
- The move is a strategic reshuffle, not a retreat from AI.
- Meta is seen as streamlining its AI efforts to focus on building next-generation large language models.
Meta is cutting about 600 jobs in its artificial intelligence division, a surprising move for a company that is in the middle of a massive, all-in push into AI. However, the company confirmed on Wednesday that it is still aggressively hiring for its “superintelligence” lab, TBD Lab, signaling a strategic reshuffle rather than a full-scale retreat.
The layoffs will affect several of Meta’s AI units, including its well-respected Fundamental AI Research (FAIR) team. According to a memo sent to employees, the company is encouraging those who were laid off to apply for other jobs within Meta, and it expects most of them will find new roles.
The cuts come as Meta is also pouring resources into its newer TBD Lab, which is responsible for developing the company’s latest and most powerful large language models. This is the team tasked with competing directly with OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini.
Meta has taken a unique approach to the AI race, releasing its flagship Llama models for free as an open-source product. While this has helped drive widespread adoption, with over a billion people using its AI products each month, the company is still seen as lagging behind its rivals in the consumer-facing chatbot space.
These latest job cuts suggest that Meta is streamlining its AI efforts, reducing spending in some areas to focus on what it sees as the most critical part of the AI race: building the next generation of “superintelligent” models.
