Meta has temporarily paused hiring for its new artificial intelligence division, the company confirmed Thursday. The halt follows months of aggressive recruitment efforts that saw the company spend heavily to bring in researchers, engineers, and even high-profile executives.
The pause comes amid a wider reorganization. According to reports, Meta has split its AI division into four separate teams: one focused on building machine superintelligence (called the “TBD Lab”), another on AI products, one on infrastructure, and a group tasked with long-term projects. Collectively, they fall under the new umbrella of Meta Superintelligence Labs, a name that underscores CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s ambitions to develop AI beyond human capability.
Talent Wars and Costly Acquisitions
In its bid to stay competitive, Meta offered some of the industry’s largest signing bonuses — reportedly up to $100 million for top talent. One of its boldest moves was acquiring Alexandr Wang, founder of Scale AI, through a $14.3 billion deal that gave Meta a 49% stake in his company. Wang now leads efforts around the Llama family of large language models.
The hiring pause coincides with a wider tech stock sell-off and renewed debate about whether AI investments are moving too quickly. OpenAI’s Sam Altman recently described the AI industry as a “bubble,” though many analysts reject that label. Wedbush analyst Dan Ives argued that tech stocks remain undervalued relative to the scale of the AI revolution, while others suggested Meta is simply taking time to integrate its new hires before continuing expansion.
What The Author Thinks
Pausing AI hiring might be less about caution and more about necessity. Meta’s aggressive spending created headlines, but buying talent at nine-figure levels doesn’t automatically translate to breakthroughs. A short “digestion” period could help the company avoid wasting resources. Still, the pause highlights a bigger problem across Big Tech — AI hype is driving companies to spend first and plan later, leaving investors to wonder whether the money will actually deliver sustainable results.
Featured image credit: Harian Metro
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