Meta's top AI scientist Yann LeCun to depart as Mark Zuckerberg pushes ‘superintelligence'

Core Insights - Meta's head AI scientist, Yann LeCun, plans to leave the company to start his own venture, marking a significant exit in CEO Mark Zuckerberg's efforts to develop "superintelligence" [1][5] - Meta's stock fell 1.2% as investors express concerns over the return on massive investments in AI technology [2] - The company has invested over $14 billion to acquire a 49% stake in Scale AI and recruit its founder, Alexandr Wang, to lead the new AI division [3] Company Developments - Zuckerberg is pushing for rapid product rollouts in the AI division, moving away from the long-term research focus of the Fundamental AI Research Lab (FAIR) [2][7] - Meta has been hiring talent from competitors with lucrative pay packages exceeding $100 million, causing frustration among existing employees [4] - The company has faced challenges with its AI models, including the failure of the Meta AI chatbot and the underperformance of the Llama 4 model [7] Leadership and Strategic Direction - LeCun and Zuckerberg have differing perspectives on AI's future, with LeCun expressing skepticism about the ability of large language models to fully replicate human reasoning, while Zuckerberg remains optimistic about AI's potential [8] - LeCun has been working on AI systems that learn from videos and spatial data, but he warns that full development could take a decade [9][12] Financial Context - Zuckerberg has indicated that the "superintelligence" lab could cost hundreds of billions, but there is increasing pressure to demonstrate the value of these expenditures [13] - Meta's stock experienced a significant decline of over 12% in late October, resulting in a loss of nearly $240 billion in valuation after Zuckerberg's comments on AI spending [13] - The company has also seen departures of key personnel, including Joelle Pineau, and has cut 600 roles in its AI research unit to reduce costs [14]