Meta spokesperson on Wednesday, October 22, confirmed that the company will lay off 600 employees from its “bloated” AI unit, in an effort to “streamline” operations and “reduce organisational layers,” CNBC reported.
Meta’s Chief AI Officer, Alexandr Wang, announced the layoffs in an internal memo, a move that comes after a massive hiring spree led by CEO Mark Zuckerberg earlier this year as part of its USD 14.3 billion investment in Scale AI.
Reports suggest the Fundamental Artificial Intelligence Research (FAIR) unit and product-related positions would be affected.
Meta employees said that the AI division was “bloated,” and teams like FAIR had to compete with more product-centred teams for computer resources.
When the new recruits were hired to set up the Superintelligence Labs, the division reportedly integrated the already oversized Meta AI unit.
The issue sparked discussions on the anonymous employee forum Blind, where many employees claimed that the industry shift means jobs in AI are no longer secure, raising serious concerns about job security
One user wrote, “Imagine working at Meta for years for a few 100k and being told by people who joined months ago getting paid millions that you are being laid off.”
“The billionaire forgets that people depend on jobs for food. They are not just spreadsheet rows,” wrote a Meta employee.
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