Mark Zuckerberg. Credit score: Mijansk786 / Shutterstock.com
US tech large Meta, which owns Fb, Instagram and WhatsApp, plans to chop about 600 jobs in its synthetic intelligence (AI) division, in response to an inside memo cited by US media.
The layoffs will have an effect on Meta’s so-called “superintelligence lab,” which covers the corporate’s main AI tasks. The division employs a number of thousand individuals, however actual numbers stay unclear. The transfer is geared toward “conserving tempo with opponents” and streamlining inside operations following three years of speedy AI enlargement, in response to stories from Axios and The New York Instances.
The layoffs are geared toward “relieving organizational overload attributable to the speedy improvement of Meta’s AI initiatives,” in response to the New York Instances. Axios added that the memo emphasizes that the reorganization will “scale back the conversations wanted to make selections” and provides workers “larger duty, scope and affect.”
Fierce competitors within the AI race
The layoffs come amid fierce competitors within the synthetic intelligence discipline. Since ChatGPT’s debut in 2022, firms like OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft have been racing to develop next-generation chatbots and AI-powered merchandise.
Microsoft has poured over €12.1 billion into OpenAI, and Amazon has invested €7.4 billion into AI startup Anthropic.
Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg launched the corporate’s first AI lab in 2013, shortly after shedding a bid to accumulate DeepMind, a British startup that may develop into Google’s AI hub.
Earlier this 12 months, stories revealed that Zuckerberg was assembling a brand new “superintelligence” group tasked with constructing the world’s most superior AI platform, one that might surpass human cognitive skills.
Balancing headcount reductions and new hires
Regardless of the layoffs, Meta continues to rent high-profile AI expertise. Among the many newest hires is Alexandr Wang, 28, founder and former CEO of Scale AI, a San Francisco-based startup specializing in information labeling for large-scale language fashions. Meta reportedly invested €13.3 billion in Scale AI earlier this 12 months.
The corporate additionally expanded its infrastructure, developed new information facilities and {hardware} corresponding to AI-powered good glasses, and launched an AI assistant app.
Nonetheless, the rise of automation has raised issues amongst workers throughout the expertise trade, a lot of whom worry their roles might be changed by AI.
Meta has been making changes to its workforce in latest months, each by layoffs and hiring. As of June 30, the corporate had 75,945 workers, a rise of seven% from the earlier 12 months.