Meta to lay off 600 employees from 'sluggish' AI unit
About 600 employees in Meta Platforms’ artificial intelligence division will be laid off as part of a wider effort to speed up decision-making and streamline operations.
Meta chief AI officer Alexandr Wang, who joined the company in June following Meta’s $US14.3 billion ($A22 billion) investment in Scale AI, announced the layoffs in a memo, which a Meta spokesperson confirmed.
The recently established TBD Lab will not be affected, but the cuts will hit employees across Meta’s AI infrastructure, Fundamental Artificial Intelligence Research and product-focused divisions.
Sign up to The Nightly's newsletters.
Get the first look at the digital newspaper, curated daily stories and breaking headlines delivered to your inbox.
By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Employees in the United States were informed on Wednesday that their termination was scheduled for November 21.
In addition to 16 weeks of severance pay, Meta will provide two extra weeks for each year of service. Affected employees are urged to apply for other internal positions, the company stated.
According to reports, chief executive Mark Zuckerberg became impatient with Meta’s sluggish AI advancements following conflicting responses to its Llama 4 models.
By cutting red tape and facilitating quicker decision-making, the reorganisation seeks to make the AI team “more agile,” according to Wang.
Meta is still making significant investments in AI in spite of the layoffs, including a recent $US27 billion deal with Blue Owl Capital to finance its Hyperion data centre in Louisiana.
