Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, confirmed it will eliminate 600 jobs in its AI division, according to U.S. media reports. The company continues hiring for its superintelligence lab even while executing these layoffs.
Axios first revealed the cuts, which impact Meta’s Fundamental AI Research (FAIR) team, along with product-related AI and AI infrastructure groups. Meta will keep its newer TBD Lab untouched.
Affected Staff Urged to Seek New Roles Within Meta
Chief AI officer Alexandr Wang told employees in a memo that affected workers should apply for other internal roles. Meta expects most displaced staff to secure new positions within the company. Wang explained that a smaller team enables faster decisions and gives each member broader responsibilities and influence.
Meta Expands Large Language Model Development
The California-based firm continues recruiting for its TBD Lab, which builds Meta’s newest large language models (LLMs). These models power systems like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, and Meta’s Llama.
Meta follows a distinct AI strategy by offering its Llama system as a semi–open source platform, letting users access and modify key components. The company reports that over one billion people interact with its AI products each month. Despite this reach, many analysts view Meta as trailing OpenAI and Google in promoting consumer adoption of LLM technology.
