After recruiting over 50 researchers and engineers, Meta Platforms has halted hiring in its artificial intelligence branch, according to a Wall Street Journal story published on Wednesday.
The action was taken in response to growing worries throughout the world that AI investment is accelerating too quickly. In a “superintelligence push”, Mark Zuckerberg of Meta promised hundreds of billions of dollars for AI data centers in July.
The social media behemoth is one of several big tech firms that have recently made high-profile agreements and offered multi-million dollar compensation packages to accelerate the developments of computers that are capable of performing various activities more quickly than people.
As to the WSJ report, “the hiring freeze, which was implemented last week and is part of a larger group restructuring, also forbids current employees from transferring between teams within the division”.
“There are no internal communication regarding the freeze’s duration”.
In an email to Reuters, a Meta representative stated, “All that’s happening here is some basic organizational planning: creating a solid structure for our new super intelligence efforts after bringing people on board and undertaking yearly budgeting and planning exercises”.
The Information reported earlier this week that Meta has scheduled the fourth reorganization of its AI initiatives in six months.
According to the report, the company plans to split its new AI division, Superintelligence Labs, into four groups: a new “TBD Lab,” which stands for to be determined; a products team that includes the Meta AI assistant; an infrastructure team; and the Fundamental AI Research (FAIR) lab, which is devoted to long-term research.
SOURCE: DAWN NEWS
