Meta, the parent of Facebook and Instagram, is cutting 600 jobs in its artificial intelligence division, US media reported. The company confirmed on Wednesday that it will remove about 600 AI roles while continuing to recruit workers for its superintelligence lab.
FAIR and AI Infrastructure Teams Face Layoffs
Axios reported that the layoffs will hit Meta’s Fundamental AI Research (FAIR) team, as well as its product and AI infrastructure units. The newer TBD Lab will not face any reductions. In a memo, chief AI officer Alexandr Wang urged affected employees to apply for other Meta positions. The company expects most to secure new roles internally.
Wang wrote that smaller teams will streamline decision-making and increase individual responsibility and influence. He said the shift aims to strengthen productivity and impact within the remaining staff.
Meta Expands AI Efforts Despite Setbacks
Meta continues to hire for its TBD Lab, which builds the company’s latest large language models (LLMs). These models power systems like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, and Meta’s Llama.
The company has chosen a distinct strategy in AI by offering its Llama system for free as a semi–open source platform. This approach allows developers to use and alter its core components. Meta claims over one billion people engage with its AI products monthly. However, many analysts believe Meta still trails behind OpenAI and Google in driving consumer adoption of large language models.
