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Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta freezes AI hiring and ‘bans’ employees from…

Published

1 week ago

August 23, 2025

Meta has abruptly frozen all hiring in its artificial intelligence division last week as part of a broader restructuring of its “Superintelligence Lab,” according to people familiar with the matter who spoke to The Wall Street Journal. The freeze prohibits both external hiring and internal team transfers, with exceptions requiring approval from Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang.The dramatic move follows Meta’s unprecedented AI talent war, during which the company hired over 50 researchers and engineers from competitors including OpenAI, Google DeepMind, Apple, and Anthropic. Some recruits received compensation packages worth up to $100 million, with one researcher reportedly offered $1.5 billion total compensation. CEO Mark Zuckerberg personally reached out to targets via email and WhatsApp, demonstrating his direct involvement in the high-stakes recruitment campaign.To secure top talent, Meta paid $14 billion for a stake in Scale AI to bring on co-founder Alexandr Wang as its chief AI officer. The company also recruited former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman and Safe Superintelligence co-founder Daniel Gross, whose courtship involved Meta offering to buy stakes in their venture firm. Mark Zuckerberg also went on to poach ChatGPT co-creator Shengjia Zhao.

Meta’s reorganisation triggers leadership exodus

The restructuring has triggered significant departures from Meta’s AI ranks, creating a brain drain that undermines the company’s massive investment. According to The New York Times, key figures including research scientist Angela Fan, who helped build Meta’s Llama AI model, recently left for OpenAI. Loredana Crisan, vice president of generative AI, is joining software company Figma as chief design officer. Former AI research head Joelle Pineau departed earlier this year for AI startup Cohere.The turmoil stems from disappointing performance of Meta’s latest AI models released in April. The company has since abandoned its previous “Behemoth” frontier model to start fresh, according to NYT sources. This setback prompted Zuckerberg to become personally involved in recruiting new talent and dissolving the AGI Foundations team that had overseen the failed project.Adding to the internal chaos, new AI leadership has begun aggressive restructuring. Former OpenAI researcher Shengjia Zhao, now Meta’s chief AI scientist, has been interviewing existing employees for new roles within the reorganised structure, questioning them about their past work and creating uncertainty among longtime staff members.Meta’s AI division is now split into four groups: superintelligence research, AI products, infrastructure, and long-term exploration projects. The upheaval mirrors Meta’s previous technology pivots, particularly its costly metaverse initiative that saw massive hiring followed by significant layoffs when market enthusiasm cooled.

Investor concerns mount over Meta’s AI spending spree

The hiring freeze reflects growing investor scrutiny over Meta’s spiraling AI costs, which have raised questions about return on investment. Morgan Stanley analysts warned in an August 18 research note that lavish stock-based compensation packages offered to AI talent could threaten the company’s ability to return capital to shareholders through buybacks.Meta’s capital expenditures could reach $72 billion this year, primarily for AI data centers and researcher salaries. The company’s aggressive spending has contributed to recent technology stock selloffs as investors question whether massive AI investments will generate proportional returns. The freeze suggests Meta is attempting to control costs while consolidating its scattered AI efforts.The timing is particularly challenging as the broader tech industry faces mounting pressure to demonstrate tangible results from AI investments. While Meta’s advertising business has benefited from AI improvements, the company’s pursuit of “superintelligence” remains largely theoretical, creating tension between immediate financial pressures and long-term technological ambitions.A Meta spokesperson characterised the freeze as “basic organizational planning” following the company’s hiring spree and annual budgeting exercises, though the duration remains undetermined. The company maintains that the restructuring aims to accelerate AI product development and achieve superintelligence goals more efficiently.Meta has hired Frank Chu, another senior Apple executive who worked on artificial intelligence (AI). According to Bloomberg, Chu led the iPhone maker’s AI teams focused on cloud infrastructure, training and search.

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Tools & Platforms

Oak Lawn Community High School to implement AI gun detection tech – NBC Chicago

Published

3 hours ago

August 31, 2025

Izzy Stroobandt

A high school in suburban Chicago was awarded a grant to implement AI-powered gun detection technology.

Oak Lawn Community High School District 229 was one of 50 recipients selected nationwide for the Omnilert Secure Schools Grant Program, the school said in a recent announcement.

The district was awarded a three-year license for Omnilert Gun Detect, an “advanced AI-powered gun detection technology” — at no cost.

The AI system identifies firearms “in real-time through existing security camera infrastructure,” the announcement said.

Once a potential threat is identified, the AI system activates a rapid response process by alerting school officials and law enforcement, ultimately ensuring that threats can be addressed “as quickly and effectively as possible,” the announcement said.

The implementation of the AI system aligns with District 229’s security strategy, that includes a combination of physical safety measures, emergency preparedness and mental health resources, the announcement said.

The school said staff training and safety drills will be done to ensure the technology is used effectively and responsibly.

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Published

5 hours ago

August 30, 2025

The Editors

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