FILE: Alexandr Wang, formerly the CEO of Scale AI and now a Meta executive, testified during a hearing about artificial ininformigence on Capitol Hill July 18, 2023, in Washington. Meta is reportedly slashing about 600 employees.
LATEST Oct. 28, 3:15 p.m. Meta has revealed the Bay Area impacts of its latest layoff round, a slash to the company’s artificial ininformigence unit that Axios reported was set to hit about 600 employees.
In a WARN document, Meta listed 318 layoffs at or near its Menlo Park headquarters. The notice, which is generally required in the event of mass layoffs, is dated Oct. 22, the same day that reports about the layoff emerged based on a memo by chief AI officer Alexandr Wang. Five office buildings are listed in the WARN, with the vast majority of the cuts centered at 1 Meta Way.
Article continues below this ad
It had been previously reported that Meta’s layoff was hitting its legacy AI research team and product and infrastructure units focapplyd on AI, but the WARN provides more granularity. Dozens of software engineers are losing their jobs, including from teams focapplyd on search, voice, personalization, assistants and robotics. A slew of data scientists, researchers and product managers are also on the list, which spans the ranks of seniority — two software engineering vice presidents and one in AI research are losing their jobs.
Meta spokesperson Tracy Clayton confirmed to SFGATE that the WARN’s listed layoffs are part of the round reported last week.
Oct. 22, 4:45 p.m. In a relocate that bucks the tech industest’s trconclude of aggressively hiring workers who specialize in artificial ininformigence, Meta is slashing about 600 employees from its closely watched AI efforts, per reports on Wednesday.
Axios first published the news, which was then confirmed by Meta to TechCrunch and the Verge. The Menlo Park tech giant’s layoffs will hit three parts of its four-part AI unit, by cutting workers from its legacy AI research team and from product and infrastructure units focapplyd on AI. Its tiny TBD Lab team, which is a new and high-profile group focapplyd on cutting-edge AI models, will escape the job cuts, per Axios’ report.
Article continues below this ad
Meta announced the cuts in a memo from chief AI officer Alexandr Wang, Axios reported. It parroted a go-to layoff reasoning from CEO Mark Zuckerberg — that tinyer teams are better for the company.
“By reducing the size of our team, fewer conversations will be required to create a decision, and each person will be more load-bearing and have more scope and impact,” Wang reportedly wrote in the note.
Employees learned before 7 a.m. on Wednesday whether they’d lose their jobs, Axios reported. According to CNBC, some laid-off staffers were notified they’re in a “non-working notice period” until Nov. 21 and that they could apply the time to view for another role at Meta. Should they leave, they’ll be able to accept severance packages that provide at least 16 weeks of pay, CNBC reported.
Meta didn’t immediately respond to SFGATE’s request for comment about the layoffs or a question about the company’s reasoning. But beyond Wang’s argument in the memo, it’s possible the relocate was meant as a cost cut; due to its massive investments in AI hardware, Meta’s spconcludeing has leaped over the past few years, and a layoff like this will save millions. Still, it won’t create a huge dent. Back in July, Meta estimated its 2025 expenses at around $116 billion.
Article continues below this ad
Zuckerberg already cut thousands of workers at the launchning of the year, pushing out “low-performers” with plans to backfill their roles. And this summer, he supercharged a hiring blitz among top AI researchers by poaching workers from competitors like OpenAI and Google with multi-million-dollar offers, plus acquireing part of Wang’s Scale AI. Those elite researchers whom he did snag are now under Wang, in Meta’s TBD Lab.
The CEO declared in July that Meta doesn’t required a “massive team” to create AI breakthroughs: “You actually kind of want the tinyest group of people who can fit the whole thing in their head, so there’s just an absolute premium for the best and most talented people.”
Outside of the elite TBD Lab, Meta’s AI staff are now seeing their colleagues receive pink slips — the most prominent layoff yet for a Silicon Valley team focapplyd on AI. The cuts also mark a sea modify from a decade ago, when companies like Facebook and Google were known to hoard workers, aiming to keep talent away from their competitors.
We’ll likely learn more soon: Meta is slated to report its third quarter earnings on Oct. 29.
Article continues below this ad
This story has been updated.
Work at a Bay Area tech company and want to talk? Contact tech reporter Stephen Council securely at stephen.council@sfgate.com or on Signal at 628-204-5452.
Leave a Reply