Meta to cut 600 jobs in its AI unit amid ‘organisational bloat’ after hiring spree to scale operations

Facebook owner Meta is reportedly cutting about 600 jobs in its artificial intelligence (AI) unit, Superintelligence Labs, to address “organisational bloat” following a period of aggressive hiring as the company expanded its AI operations, Malay Mail reported, citing US media outlets including The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.

The layoffs will affect teams working on AI products and infrastructure but not the newly formed TBD Lab, which includes several high-paid recent hires. Meta’s Facebook Artificial Intelligence Research (FAIR) unit will also be impacted, Axios reported.

Employees affected by the cuts were notified on Wednesday, according to an internal memo reviewed by Bloomberg News.

Meta’s chief AI officer Alexandr Wang said in the memo: “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.”

Even with the cuts, Futurism reported that the company continues to hire for its TBD Lab to work on next-generation AI models.

Meta is also encouraging affected employees to apply for other roles within the company. /TISG

Read also: Scale AI cuts 200 full-time staff weeks after Meta’s US$14.3B investment and founder Alexandr Wang’s exit

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