Meta lays off 600 in AI shakeup, unclear impact on FAIR staff in Tel Aviv
Restructuring targets legacy research groups as Meta builds new AI division.
Meta is planning to cut around 600 roles within its artificial intelligence division, as the company reorganizes its AI operations to prioritize its new “superintelligence” team, known internally as TBD Lab.
The layoffs, first reported by Axios and confirmed by a Meta spokesperson, will affect the company’s legacy Fundamental AI Research (FAIR) unit, as well as its AI product and infrastructure teams. Meta has FAIR researchers based in Tel Aviv, but it remains unclear whether, or how many, of them will be impacted by the cuts.
The move follows a turbulent year of expansion and restructuring across Meta’s AI operations. Over the summer, the company embarked on an AI hiring spree after investing $14.3 billion in Scale AI and hiring its CEO, Alexandr Wang, to lead Meta’s AI division. Just months later, Meta paused hiring and began reorganizing its AI units to concentrate resources on TBD Lab, which is tasked with developing frontier models and integrating AI across Meta’s platforms.
In an internal memo obtained by Axios, Wang wrote that reducing the team’s size would streamline decision-making and increase accountability. “By reducing the size of our team, fewer conversations will be required to make a decision, and each person will be more load-bearing and have more scope and impact,” he said.
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The layoffs mark another step in Meta’s ongoing attempt to consolidate its sprawling AI efforts under a single vision. Earlier this year, Joelle Pineau, head of FAIR, departed the company as Meta shifted its research focus from foundational science toward scalable AI products. In August, Wang said Meta planned to integrate many of FAIR’s research ideas into large-scale model training efforts led by TBD Lab.
Meta will allow affected employees to apply for other positions within the company. The social media giant, which has roughly 72,000 employees worldwide, previously cut 3,600 jobs in January as part of a broader efficiency drive.
