Meta’s goal of reaching the top of the AI field is facing a major setback. Within months, key figures Mark Zuckerberg had spent hundreds of millions of dollars recruiting from competitors to build his “AI Avengers” team began leaving the company. This situation has resonated widely in the tech world.
Meta is losing AI managers
Three of the AI researchers who joined Meta: Avi Verma, Ethan Knight, and Rishabh Agarwal, resigned shortly thereafter. Avi Verma and Ethan Knight, who were transferred from OpenAI, returned to their former jobs at OpenAI after only a few weeks at Meta. Longtime employee Chaya Navak also left the company and joined the OpenAI team. It’s noteworthy that these individuals are leaving highly lucrative contracts to return to their former companies.
The exact reasons behind these departures are unknown. However, industry rumors suggest that Mark Zuckerberg’s hands-off management style has created unrest within the AI team.
Furthermore, Meta’s approach to AI and its ethical principles differing from OpenAI’s may have made it difficult for these researchers to adapt. It’s known that each company has a different framework for AI, and it’s believed that the individuals leaving weren’t aligned with this framework.
These departures are a clear sign that Zuckerberg’s initiative isn’t going as planned. Meta’s recent decision to restructure the team it calls “Superintelligence Labs” and halt hiring suggests this was already being anticipated. These new departures have further highlighted the cracks within the team.
