Meta to Cut 600 Jobs in AI Division
Meta is reportedly laying off about 600 employees from its artificial intelligence division at Superintelligence Labs. This move, as noted by Axios, highlights a significant restructuring within the company.
The layoffs will primarily impact the Facebook Artificial Intelligence Research (FAIR) division, as well as the sections related to product-related AI and AI infrastructure. However, the newly established TBD Lab is not expected to be affected, according to an internal memo referenced in the report.
Alexander Wang, the chief AI officer, mentioned that having fewer team members could enhance decision-making and allow for greater responsibility and influence in each role.
Meanwhile, Meta did not respond quickly to a request for comments from Reuters, which also couldn’t verify the details of the report independently.
Reportedly, the company is encouraging the employees impacted by the layoffs to seek other positions within Meta, and it seems that there’s an expectation that many will secure new roles within the organization.
In a related business move, Meta announced a massive $27 billion loan agreement with Blue Owl Capital, marking its largest private capital deal to date. This funding is allocated for a major data center project.
Analysts suggest that this venture might enable Meta to better pursue its ambitious AI goals, reducing the financial burden by transferring some of the initial costs and risks to external backers.
Back in June, Meta had reorganized its AI operations, consolidating them under Superintelligence Labs in response to some staff departures and criticisms of its open-source Llama 4 model.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg had previously spearheaded an aggressive hiring spree to boost Meta’s AI initiatives. In July, he expressed plans for the company to invest hundreds of billions into the creation of extensive AI data centers aimed at reaching what is referred to as superintelligence—essentially, a point where machines could potentially equal or exceed human skills.
Meta’s journey into AI technology began in 2013 with the establishment of FAIR, bringing in prominent AI scientist Yann LeCun to lead the charge, and setting up an international research network focused on deep learning.
