Meta cuts 600 AI jobs to reduce "overly bureaucratic" AI efforts

Meta is laying off about 600 employees from its core AI research (FAIR), product AI, and infrastructure teams. According to an internal memo from AI chief Alexandr Wang seen by Axios, the move is meant to cut down on bureaucracy, speed up decision-making, and give teams more responsibility. Thousands of AI jobs will remain, and Wang's new TBD Lab unit is not affected by the cuts and will continue to expand. CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly had doubts about the company’s previous approach and is now backing Wang’s team to lead Meta’s AI strategy.

Impacted employees in the US are expected to be notified by Wednesday morning and, according to Wang, will be able to apply for other roles within Meta. Reports of tension in Meta’s AI divisions have surfaced before, including disagreements between Yann LeCun and the new management team.