Meta has eliminated 600 positions in its artificial intelligence division, US media reported. The company confirmed the layoffs on Wednesday while continuing to recruit employees for its superintelligence lab.
Axios revealed that the job cuts affect Meta’s Fundamental AI Research (FAIR) team, along with product-focused AI and AI infrastructure units. The newer TBD Lab remains untouched by the reductions.
Workers Urged to Reapply Within Meta
Chief AI officer Alexandr Wang, in a memo cited by Axios, urged affected employees to apply for new positions within Meta. The company expects most displaced workers to secure roles in other teams.
Wang explained that smaller teams would improve decision-making efficiency and expand each employee’s influence and responsibility. Meta continues hiring for TBD Lab, which develops advanced large language models (LLMs).
Meta Expands AI Strategy with Open Access
Meta maintains recruitment for TBD Lab as it builds its newest LLMs, similar to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, and Meta’s own Llama. The California company has adopted an open-access approach by releasing its Llama model as a semi-open source product. This allows developers to modify and apply its key components freely.
Meta claims over one billion people use its AI tools monthly, though analysts believe it still trails rivals like OpenAI and Google in driving everyday consumer adoption of LLMs.
