Ambitious push by Meta into artificial intelligence is facing internal headwinds as employees voice growing discontent over the company’s AI division culture.
A scathing internal essay by Tijmen Blankevoort, a departing researcher who worked on Meta’s flagship LLaMA models, has ignited widespread debate across the organization.
Tijmen described the division as plagued by fear, dysfunction, and a lack of mission clarity, likening the internal atmosphere to “metastatic cancer”.
His critique, posted on Meta’s internal bulletin board, claims that performance reviews and repeated layoffs have created a toxic environment, stifling creativity and eroding morale. “Most do not enjoy being here,” he wrote.
“And they don’t even know what our mission is”.
Meta Superintelligence Labs: High-Profile Hires, Low Cohesion
Meta is aggressively reorganizing its AI initiatives under a new division called Superintelligence Labs.
This team is specifically tasked with developing artificial general intelligence (AGI).
The company has poached top talent from rivals, including Ruoming Pang from Apple, Yuanzhi Li from OpenAI, and Anton Bakhtin from Anthropic.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg has reportedly offered multimillion-dollar packages and personally hosted candidates at his homes to secure these hires.
Despite the influx of talent, insiders claim that existing teams feel directionless and disconnected from leadership.
Many employees in the 2,000-strong AI division report burnout, infighting, and a lack of strategic alignment.
Layoffs and Performance Reviews Fuel Distrust
Meta’s AI division has been hit by multiple rounds of layoffs, with employees questioning the fairness of the selection process.
While the company insists cuts were performance-based, many affected workers say they consistently met expectations.
The rigid review system has reportedly fostered a culture of fear, discouraging risk-taking and innovation.
Tijmen’s essay has sparked internal reflection, with some leaders acknowledging that talent alone cannot fix a broken culture.
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