Meta Platforms(US:META) 3 6 Ke·2025-09-05 07:38Core Insights - Meta has paused hiring in its AI department after an aggressive recruitment strategy aimed at competing with OpenAI and Google, leading to significant employee turnover [1][2][3] - The recruitment freeze is described as a strategic adjustment to build a more stable structure following a massive talent acquisition effort [3][31] - The internal restructuring involves splitting the AI department into four specialized teams, each with distinct missions, to enhance efficiency and collaboration [32][33] Recruitment Strategy - In June 2025, Mark Zuckerberg invested nearly $15 billion to acquire a 49% non-voting stake in Scale AI, aiming to bolster Meta's AI capabilities [2] - The recruitment strategy included offering signing bonuses in the nine-figure range, with total compensation packages for key talents reaching up to $100 million [2][10] - By July 19, 2025, 40% of the 44 employees in the Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL) came from OpenAI, 20% from DeepMind, and 15% from Scale AI, with salaries ranging from $1 million to $100 million [10] Employee Turnover - Following the recruitment freeze, at least nine employees from MSL have left within two months, including key figures who returned to previous employers [3][34] - The high compensation for new hires has led to feelings of marginalization among long-term employees, prompting several to resign [3][35] - Internal dissatisfaction has been reported regarding the management style and resource allocation, contributing to the turnover [35][36] Leadership and Team Structure - Alexandr Wang, the CEO of Scale AI, leads MSL, which has faced skepticism regarding his leadership due to his lack of deep AI background [4][9] - The MSL is organized into four teams: TBD Lab (focused on superintelligence), AI Products & Applied Research, MSL Infra (infrastructure), and FAIR (long-term exploratory projects) [32][33] - Key hires include Nat Friedman, Daniel Gross, and Yann LeCun, who bring extensive experience and strategic vision to the team [12][13][14][18] Challenges and Market Context - The recruitment freeze coincides with rising concerns about the sustainability of AI investments, as many projects fail to deliver quick returns [31][38] - Meta's AI assistant has seen low user engagement, with only 10% of monthly active users interacting with it, raising questions about the effectiveness of the current strategy [38] - The company is reportedly considering using models from Google Gemini or OpenAI to enhance its AI product capabilities amid internal challenges [38]