Artificial Intelligence
Meta Cuts 600 Roles in Superintelligence Labs Amid Major AI Reorganization
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) has announced the layoff of around 600 employees from its Superintelligence Labs division, marking one of the company’s most significant internal reshuffles since launching its ambitious AI initiative earlier this year.
The job cuts will affect teams within Facebook Artificial Intelligence Research (FAIR), as well as groups working on AI product development and infrastructure. The company confirmed that its elite TBD Lab, which focuses on next-generation foundation models, will remain unaffected.
The decision, announced in a memo by Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang, aims to streamline operations, eliminate redundancy, and make Meta’s AI unit “more agile and talent-dense.” “By reducing the size of our team, fewer conversations will be required to make a decision, and each person will be more load-bearing and have more scope and impact,” Wang wrote in the internal memo.
Streamlining Meta’s AI Empire
The layoffs come just four months after Meta reorganized its AI operations under the newly branded Superintelligence Labs (MSL). The division was created to unite its foundation model, research, and applied AI efforts, spearheading CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s vision for ‘personal superintelligence’—AI systems that could eventually rival or surpass human capabilities.
Since its creation, MSL has rapidly expanded, aggressively recruiting engineers and researchers from OpenAI, Google DeepMind, Apple, and other major tech companies. However, the pace of growth has led to overlapping mandates and internal friction.
Mark Zuckerberg’s new approach favors “small, high-talent teams” capable of faster decision-making and greater innovation. The cuts, while substantial, are being positioned as part of Meta’s long-term AI acceleration strategy rather than a cost-cutting measure.
Mark Zuckerberg with Alexandr Wang, Chief AI Officer, Meta AI
Massive Financing Signals Continued AI Ambition
The layoffs were announced just a day after Meta secured a $27 billion financing deal with Blue Owl Capital, the largest private capital agreement in the company’s history. The funds will help finance Meta’s most ambitious data center project to date—one that is central to scaling its AI computing capacity.
Analysts believe the move allows Meta to expand AI capabilities while minimizing financial risk, as much of the upfront cost is shifted to external investors. Despite the job cuts, Meta insists that investment in AI will continue to grow. “This by no means signals any decrease in investment,” Alexandr Wang said. “We remain excited about the models we are training, our ambitious compute plans, and the products we are building.”
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The Road Ahead: Toward “Personal Superintelligence”
Meta’s restructured Superintelligence Labs will focus on developing next-generation AI foundation models, continuing efforts started under FAIR and TBD Lab. The company’s long-term vision remains clear: to create AI systems that can learn, reason, and interact at human-level intelligence—or beyond.
While the layoffs mark a difficult chapter for hundreds of employees, they also underscore a deeper shift in Meta’s approach to artificial intelligence. Zuckerberg’s AI empire is not shrinking—it’s evolving, recalibrating toward speed, precision, and scalable innovation.
