Meta splits AI division into four new groups in latest restructuring
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The news: Meta Platforms is splitting its newly formed artificial intelligence division, Meta Superintelligence Labs, into four groups, the company’s latest shake-up in a string of restructurings over the past six months, according to reports citing internal communications.
Citing an internal memo, Bloomberg reported Alexandr Wang, the former Scale AI chief executive who joined Meta in June as chief AI officer, will lead TBD Lab, which stands for a "to be determined" research lab that oversees Meta’s large language models including Llama.
Nat Friedman, the former CEO of GitHub, and Daniel Gross, who previously ran Safe Superintelligence, will lead development of new AI features under the products and applied research division, according to the New York Times, citing two people with knowledge of the plans. Aparna Ramani, a VP in charge of AI, data and developer infrastructure will run the new MSL infrastructure team, according to the memo seen by Bloomberg.
The Information, which first reported the plans, said TBD Lab is expected to have several new external hires as leads, including Jack Rae, Ruoming Pang, Jiahui Yu, Hongyu Ren and Pei Sun, who previously worked at Google, Apple and OpenAI.
The context: By The Information’s count, this is Meta’s fourth AI restructuring in six months, following struggles to advance its newest AI models and delays to the Behemoth frontier model, which the NYT reported will be abandoned after disappointing tests.
Before launching Meta Superintelligence Labs in June, Meta had three main AI teams: the long-standing Fundamental AI Research (FAIR), an AI products group, and the artificial general intelligence (AGI) foundations team, which worked on generative AI products and research. According to the memo cited by Bloomberg, the AGI foundations group is being dissolved, with its leaders Ahmad Al-Dahle and Amir Frenkel now focusing on strategic MSL initiatives and reporting to Wang.
Connor Hayes, who previously led the AI products group, had already been reassigned to run Threads, Meta’s competitor to Elon Musk’s X.
Other personnel changes include Loredana Crisan, who previously led Messenger and later moved to the generative AI group, leaving Meta for design software company Figma.
Bloomberg reported no layoffs were part of the reorganisation, but the NYT said Meta is considering downsizing roles or shifting staff because its AI division has grown to thousands of people in recent years.
The sources: Bloomberg, The Information, The New York Times
