Move is being closely watched by analysts who believe AI companies are over-valued
Meta Platforms has put the brakes on hiring for its new AI division, following months of high-profile recruitment and spending.
The pause, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, came into effect last week and coincides with a restructuring of the group. A Meta spokesperson said that the move was part of “basic organisational planning” and the company’s annual budgeting cycle, adding it would help “create a solid structure for our new superintelligence efforts.”
The restructuring has split Meta’s AI work into four teams: one focused on machine superintelligence (known internally as the ‘TBD lab’), an AI products division, an infrastructure division and a longer-term research and exploration group. Collectively, they fall under ‘Meta Superintelligence Labs’, a name reflecting CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s ambition to develop AI that surpasses human intelligence.
Meta has invested heavily in AI this year, offering signing bonuses reported to reach $100m and securing talent from rivals. Its most high-profile deal came with the $14.3bn acquisition of a 49% stake in Scale AI, bringing in founder Alexandr Wang to lead its Llama large language model programme.
The hiring freeze comes against a backdrop of wider uncertainty in the sector. OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman this week warned that AI could be in a bubble, while US tech stocks have seen a broader sell-off.
Critics draw parallels with the metaverse, the focus on which was given as the reason that Facebook changed its name to Meta, and which has already cost the company billions with little to show in terms of end product.
Not all analysts agree that AI is a bubble. Dan Ives, tech analyst at Wedbush Securities, argued that “tech stocks are undervalued relative to this 4th Industrial Revolution” and suggested Meta’s pause was more about consolidation than retreat.