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⏸️ New measures in the ongoing war for AI talent could pave the way for the technology’s doom. Meta and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg are under the spotlight following the tech giant’s recent AI division hiring freeze. After an aggressive and front-page multi-USD-bn hiring spree this year, the halt is raising questions concerning Meta’s investment capabilities. More so, it is casting doubts over the future of AI — and the deadlock it seems to be reaching.
Meta is cutting back on efforts. Meta is already looking to downsize its AI division, with a few AI executives expected to leave. This comes after the thousands of employees the company has racked up in the last few years, according to the Financial Times. Instead, it has its sights set on outsourcing AI operations to third-party models. Given Zuckerberg’s aggressive recruitment strategy a few months back, the company seems to be in the middle of navigating a rocky period.
While many deem the restructuring disjointed, Meta dismisses it as “basic organisational planning,” while calling attention to the efforts they’re allocating for their superintelligence unit. In spite of this, Meta’s earnings calls this year mention AI over 62 times and superintelligence 20 times. The bigger issue, however, lies in investor concerns over the company’s costly AI buildout.
Why are investors stressed out? Meta’s unrestrained stock-based compensation to bring in top AI talent is bound to backfire as their ability to buy back their shares heavily depends on the results of this major talent investment. The two most likely scenarios are achieving a breakthrough that leads to enormous compensation or ending up with insignificant innovation that only dilutes shareholder value. At any rate, investing massive amounts of money in AI talent is unsustainable, especially considering that 95% of enterprise AI investment is in the red.
In other AI news, newly released court filings reveal that Elon Musk intended to partner with Zuckerberg this year over a USD 100 bn bid for OpenAI, a move that would have allowed both tech b’naires to set aside their differences. However, Meta and Zuckerberg refused to sign a letter of intent to join, as Zuckerberg was already set on prioritizing in-house AI development and allocating major capital to AI talent.
