Mark Zuckerberg’s recent recruitment move at Meta has led to significant tensions within the company, as reported.
Alexandr Wang, a 28-year-old billionaire who has made waves in the AI sector, reportedly had a falling out with established engineers in Zuckerberg’s AI division, following Meta’s substantial $14 billion investment in his work. According to the New York Times, this friction is unsettling within the AI wing of the firm.
Shengjia Zhao, a former OpenAI researcher who co-developed ChatGPT and joined Meta as Chief AI Scientist in July, has been facing scrutiny from a long-term employee regarding his previous experience, as they work to adjust to the new structure of the organization.
In recent weeks, researchers have been queuing outside Zhao’s office, as he evaluates their work, a source mentioned.
Wang’s presence is said to be altering Meta’s foundational strategy towards AI, as he pushes his team to “seal” the next AI model in secrecy—an approach that contrasts sharply with the company’s previous policy of openly sharing models for broader development by others. This shift has reportedly unsettled older members of the team.
In a notable change, the leadership has labeled Meta’s former frontier model as Behemoth.
Meta has heavily invested, about $14.3 billion, in Wang’s former company, Scale AI, positioning him to lead initiatives against competitors like OpenAI and Google.
Zuckerberg, at 41, is intensifying the competition in Silicon Valley by offering lucrative packages to attract top talent from rival firms. Last month, he addressed investors, promising a “new era of personal empowerment” and projecting capital expenditures of up to $72 billion this year.
The report indicates that Meta is undergoing a major restructuring, organizing into teams dedicated to research, product development, and infrastructure.
Amid these changes, there are discussions about downsizing the AI division, which has ballooned to thousands of staff, with potential layoffs or transfers to other departments.
Several high-profile departures have occurred during this leadership transformation. Joel Pineau, a scientist known for his contributions to Meta, left for the AI startup Coher. Additionally, Angela Fan, who worked on Meta’s open-source llama model, has moved on, seeking new opportunities.
Loredana Crisan, once Vice President of Generative AI, has also departed to take on a design role at Figma.
Former GitHub CEOs Nat Friedman and Daniel Gross, who once led efforts at Safe Superintelligence, will be spearheading the development of new AI capabilities in the Product and Applied Research division.
Some veterans within Meta have expressed skepticism regarding the influx of new talent, especially as the company invests heavily in acquiring AI specialists.
Meta is also exploring partnerships with third-party AI models to enhance its offerings, moving away from an exclusive reliance on proprietary technologies, which has long been their standard.
Originally reported by others, Meta has opted not to comment about its organizational shifts.
A spokesperson for the company, Andy Stone, has dismissed media narratives surrounding the upheaval as exaggerated. He emphasized that Meta’s true aim is to attract talent for robust AI research, contrasting it against what he described as sensationalized interpretations of the changes.
This restructuring is seen as one of Zuckerberg’s boldest moves, as he aims not to fall behind in the rapidly evolving AI landscape reshaping Silicon Valley’s hierarchy.
