Meta is undergoing a significant restructuring of its Superintelligence Labs division, which it announced two months ago. The company has reportedly decided to split the division into four separate subgroups. This move follows Meta’s multi-billion-dollar investment in artificial intelligence.
Meta is restructuring its AI team
Most recently, the company spent $14.8 billion to acquire a 48% stake in San Francisco-based data labeling firm Scale AI and appointed Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang to head its “superintelligence” team. Superintelligence is defined as a form of artificial intelligence far exceeding human cognitive abilities.
According to The New York Times, Meta is dividing Superintelligence Labs into four units. The new groups will focus on AI research, AI products, superintelligence creation goals, and infrastructure and hardware projects.
The same report also indicates that Meta has plans to downsize its overall AI division. This could result in the elimination of some positions or the transfer of employees to other parts of the company. The size of the team, which has grown to thousands in recent years, is said to have influenced this decision. However, discussions are still ongoing, and no final decisions have been made.
The Wall Street Journal announced that Meta has temporarily paused hiring in its AI division. A company spokesperson said this was due to basic organizational planning, establishing the structure of new superintelligence initiatives, and annual budgeting.
However, just a few weeks ago, Meta had offered up to $100 million to acquire talented AI employees from OpenAI.
Meta’s actions should not be interpreted as “putting the brakes on” the AI field. Large teams don’t always translate to success, and a dynamic and streamlined structure is crucial, especially in a young, rapidly advancing field like AI.
With its restructuring and downsizing, Meta aims to achieve its superintelligence goals faster and gain a competitive advantage in AI products by streamlining operations.
The company’s spending this year is expected to reach $72 billion, a large portion of which is allocated to AI. Although the Metaverse has cost the company approximately $45 billion since 2022, the fact that virtual and augmented reality have not yet reached the expected prevalence has made the search for artificial intelligence and superintelligence the main agenda of the technology world.
