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This is distinctly different from the approach Meta is taking with its current AI division, which may be the catalyst behind LeCun looking to explore greener pastures.
Like Google and Microsoft , once the shockwaves of OpenAI's ChatGPT launch were felt throughout the industry, Meta pivoted toward developing its own large language models. It had maintained an AI research division for over a decade, and Mark Zuckerberg had spent the previous few years pushing his Metaverse VR concept as hard as his multi-billion-dollar fortune and multi-trillion-dollar company would allow.
But to date, Meta has struggled to make a serious impact. Meta's Llama AI models having clear weighting has drawn praise, but it has repeatedly underperformed when compared to competitors such as DeepSeek, Google, and xAI.
In an effort to remain competitive, Meta went on a hiring spree this year, spending over $14 billion to acquire the CEO of data annotation firm, ScaleAI , Alexandr Wang, as well as offering signing bonuses of up to $100 million, while attempting to poach top talent from OpenAI, Google, and others. Mark Zuckerberg reportedly maintained a list of the most enticing talent and reached out to many of them personally to try to secure their employment, all while it struggled to retain the talent it already had .
Zuckerberg has come under increasing pressure from Meta investors to show the potential profit behind his AI investments. Meta's stock lost over $240 billion in value after Zuckerberg revealed plans to spend over $100 billion in AI in 2026.
This may be why, with this influx of new talent, Meta has pivoted away from developing an AI to compete with contemporary models and is instead focusing on developing "superintelligence" as part of a newly designated "TBD lab." Under this new structure, Meta's AI product team, data center and infrastructure teams, and fundamental AI research team led by LeCun, would all report directly to the 28-year-old Alexandr Wang.
Wang, former roommate of Sam Altman and once the world's youngest billionaire, has drawn criticism (and is under investigation) for allegations that his company used low-paid workers to generate vast quantities of annotated data that could be used as AI training data. This stands in stark contrast to LeCun's pedigree and may well be a factor in his departure.
Intel's CTO and AI chief leaves for OpenAI after just seven months in role
Key considerations
- Investor positioning can change fast
- Volatility remains possible near catalysts
- Macro rates and liquidity can dominate flows
Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/metas-godfather-of-ai-departs-the-company-to-form-his-own-startup-turing-award-winner-yann-lecun-advocates-for-the-development-of-world-models-over-llms#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com
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Informational only. No financial advice. Do your own research.