Joëlle Pineau, a central figure in Meta's artificial intelligence research, will leave the company on May 30 after nearly eight years of service. Her exit comes during a period of increasing political polarization and a strategic shift at Meta.
In a Facebook post, Pineau described her time at Meta as "the professional experience of a lifetime." Since joining in 2017, she helped establish the FAIR (Facebook AI Research) unit, which developed widely-used technologies including PyTorch, FAISS, Roberta, Dino, Llama, SAM, Codegen and Audiobox.
Pineau hasn't outlined any concrete next steps. She said she plans to take time to "observe and to reflect" before starting something new, and added that she’ll continue to support Meta "from the sidelines."
Political pressures mount
Pineau's departure comes as geopolitical tensions increasingly affect the scientific community. Roughly 1,900 prominent scientists recently signed an open letter warning of a "wholesale assault on U.S. science"—an effort they say could undermine public safety and set back research by decades. Meta's chief AI scientist Yann LeCun signed the letter ("obviously," he noted), though Pineau was not among the signatories.
Meta has also undergone internal changes. Earlier this year, CEO Mark Zuckerberg publicly signaled a shift toward a more conservative stance, including a willingness to reengage with Donald Trump. The shift reflects a broader trend among major tech companies to avoid confronting political figures like Donald Trump, often opting instead for strategic silence or accommodation.
Pineau, who was born in Ottawa and currently serves as an associate professor in Montreal, is also leaving Meta at a time when Canada has become increasingly entangled in foreign policy disputes. The Trump administration has initiated a trade war with Canada and publicly floated the possibility of military action. These developments have raised concerns about the political environment for science and technology, particularly for researchers working across borders.
In her farewell post, Pineau appeared to acknowledge these shifting dynamics, writing: "Today, as the world undergoes significant change, as the race for AI accelerates, and as Meta prepares for its next chapter, it is time to create space for others to pursue the work."
