Meta Reportedly Faces AI Talent Exodus Just Months After Superintelligence Labs Push

Meta is reportedly witnessing the departure of multiple employees just two months after creating its new artificial intelligence (AI) division, Superintelligence Labs. As per the report, both veteran employees and recent joiners working within the AI division have left the Menlo Park-based tech giant to either return to their previous employers or pursue different ventures. Interestingly, the exodus comes just weeks after the company is said to have announced a hiring freeze after spending months aggressively poaching AI talent from rival companies.

Eight Meta Employees Have Left in Recent Weeks

According to a Business Insider report, at least eight Meta employees have announced their exit from the company in recent weeks. These employees were reportedly working in the company's AI division in various roles, including researchers, engineers, and senior product leaders.

Interestingly, the departing employees are a mix of veterans who have worked at Meta for several years and have helped build the company's core AI infrastructure, the report added. Among the veterans is Bert Maher, who spent 12 years with the tech giant and helped build PyTorch, an open-source software widely used for training and testing AI models. In a post on X (formerly known as Twitter), Maher announced that he is now joining the inference team of Anthropic.

Tony Liu, an engineering manager at the company, announced their departure on LinkedIn. The move comes after spending eight years in the company and working on some of the key products, such as Facebook, Instagram, and PyTorch. Liu did not disclose his next venture.

Business Insider reported that Meta's AI and machine learning (ML) specialist, Chi-Hao Wu, also left the company after working there for five years. Wu told the publication that those working in the AI division felt work was unstable due to “constant reorganisations”. Additionally, Aram Markosyan, a research scientist, has reportedly left the company after a four-year tenure.

Two employees, Chaya Nayak and Afroz Mohiuddin, who have worked at Meta for nine years and 14 years, respectively, have reportedly joined OpenAI. Coming to the recent joiners, the publication reports that Avi Verma and Ethan Knight left Superintelligence Labs after working for less than a month to return to their previous employer, OpenAI.

Rishabh Agarwal, who joined Meta's AI division just five months ago, announced his exit in a post on X, highlighting that he wanted to take a different kind of risk. While he did not reveal his next destination, citing an unnamed source familiar with the matter, Business Insider claimed he is joining Periodic Labs.

On veteran employees leaving the company, a Meta spokesperson told the publication, "Some attrition is normal for any organisation of this size. Most of these employees had been with the company for years, and we wish them the best.” The spokesperson reportedly added that new hires leaving or going back to their previous employer is not out of the ordinary.

While that might be Meta's official stance, the exodus is likely to have impacted the company's months' worth of efforts in poaching these talents and paying them six-to-eight-figure packages.