Meta's AI Research Division Faces Internal Turmoil Over Restricted Academic Freedom
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, is facing internal unrest over changes in its AI research division. The company has been accused of restricting academic freedom and imposing new review processes on its FAIR team, led by Chief AI Scientist Yann LeCun.
The changes, which include a shift in focus towards product development and away from publishing scientific results, have been met with resistance from some team members who view it as an infringement on their academic freedom. This comes after Parisian AI research chief Joelle Pineau left Meta in April, potentially paving the way for these changes.
Meta's recent $14 billion investment in Scale AI, followed by layoffs in the Red Team responsible for AI security testing, has also raised eyebrows. Some see this as a sign of decreased workload and dissatisfaction among employees, possibly due to lost major clients like OpenAI. Meanwhile, Meta has hired AI experts and established a Superintelligence team in the US, causing frustration among long-time employees.
Meta has appointed former OpenAI scientist Shengjia Zhao as chief scientist and former Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang to lead the Superintelligence Lab. Despite Meta's denial of any restrictions on publishing, the FAIR team, responsible for developing AI frameworks like PyTorch and models like Llama and Dino, is reportedly feeling the pressure. Yann LeCun, Meta's Chief AI Scientist, is said to be considering leaving the company due to these changes.
