AI godfather says Meta’s new 29-year-old AI boss is ‘inexperienced’ and warns of staff exodus

Core Insights - Yann LeCun, former chief AI scientist at Meta, criticized the company's current AI leadership, labeling Alexander Wang as "inexperienced" and warning of potential staff departures [1][2][3][4] Group 1: Leadership and Talent Acquisition - Alexander Wang, co-founder of Scale AI, was appointed as Meta's chief AI officer in 2025 after Meta acquired a 49% stake in his startup [1][2] - Meta is engaged in a competitive talent acquisition strategy, reportedly offering $100 million signing bonuses to attract top talent from competitors like OpenAI [2] Group 2: Internal Challenges and Concerns - LeCun expressed concerns about Wang's lack of experience in research practices, stating that he is knowledgeable but lacks the necessary background to lead effectively [3] - Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has reportedly lost confidence in the AI team following accusations of manipulating benchmarks for the Llama 4 model, leading to a sidelining of the entire Gen AI organization [3] - LeCun indicated that many employees have already left Meta, and more are likely to follow due to a lack of innovative direction, as the company focuses on safer, proven projects [4]