Meta, the US tech giant, has recently submitted a document to the California Employment Development Department, indicating that the company will permanently lay off 318 employees in San Mateo County starting December 22nd. Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, will be making these cuts at various research institutions in Menlo Park, the heart of Meta’s global headquarters.
The latest document confirms that this round of layoffs is part of Meta’s plan to cut around 600 positions in the Superintelligence Lab department, which was announced earlier this month. The Superintelligence Lab is at the forefront of Meta’s cutting-edge artificial intelligence research.
On October 22nd, Meta announced its decision to reduce approximately 600 positions within the lab. The scope of the layoffs covers a wide range of technical and product positions, including software engineers, data scientists, privacy program managers, and artificial intelligence researchers from the newly established Superintelligence Lab and Facebook AI Research department FAIR, founded in 2013.
According to the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) document submitted by Meta, the layoffs aim to restructure the team and reallocate resources to next-generation AI projects, maintaining the company’s world-leading position in reshaping the artificial intelligence business.
An internal memo from Meta’s Chief AI Officer and former Scale AI CEO, Alexandr Wang, stated that the layoffs are intended to streamline the team structure and accelerate decision-making processes. Wang mentioned in the memo that by reducing the team size, the frequency of necessary discussions for decision-making will decrease, expanding each member’s scope of responsibility and influence.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg described this year as a “challenging” one, emphasizing Meta’s focus on improving performance management standards while heavily investing in artificial intelligence and hardware sectors.
Meta emphasized that this restructuring is not a retreat but a strategic move to build a more agile artificial intelligence organization. The company will continue recruiting talent for the newly established TBD (To Be Determined) lab, focusing on developing next-generation AI systems to compete with rivals like OpenAI and Google.
Meta has informed the affected employees that their last working day will be on November 21st and encouraged them to apply for other internal positions within the company.