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Meta Platforms has frozen recruitment in its artificial intelligence group after months of aggressive hiring, acquisitions, and billion-dollar deals aimed at advancing its AI research.
The company confirmed that it had paused hiring, after it was reported by the Wall Street Journal. The publication said the decision went into effect last week as part of a broader restructuring of the division, citing people familiar with the matter.
In a statement to CNBC, a Meta spokesperson said the decision reflected “some basic organizational planning: creating a solid structure for our new superintelligence efforts after bringing people on board and undertaking yearly budgeting and planning exercises.”
Four AI divisions formed
According to the WSJ report, Meta has reorganized its AI operations into four units. The structure includes a team dedicated to building machine superintelligence, called the “TBD lab” or “To Be Determined,” along with an AI products division, an infrastructure group, and a unit tasked with long-term projects and exploration.
All four now operate within “Meta Superintelligence Labs,” a name intended to reflect chief executive Mark Zuckerberg’s ambition to develop systems that surpass human intelligence.
In pursuit of this vision, Meta has committed significant financial resources. The company has been offering top AI specialists signing packages reportedly reaching as high as $100m. In one of its boldest moves, Meta acquired Alexandr Wang, founder of Scale AI, as part of a $14.3bn deal for a 49% stake in the startup. Wang now oversees the company’s AI lab driving development of its Llama large language models.
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Debate over AI investments
The hiring pause comes as other large technology companies continue to direct billions into AI research and infrastructure. It also follows a sell-off in US technology stocks this week and wider industry concerns about the pace of AI investment.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told journalists this week that he believed AI is in a bubble. Yet not all market observers agree.
“Altman is the golden child of the AI Revolution, and there could be aspects of the AI food chain that show some froth over time, but overall, we believe tech stocks are undervalued relative to this 4th Industrial Revolution,” said Dan Ives, analyst at Wedbush Securities.
Daniel Newman, CEO at Futurum Group, also suggested the pause was not a retreat from AI. “After making several acquisition-sized offers and hires in the nine-figure range, I see the hiring freeze as a natural resting point for Meta,” he said, adding that the company likely needs time to place its recent hires and assess whether they can deliver the breakthroughs it seeks.
