Meta’s months-old AI unit is a soul-crushing gulag, say the engineers stuck inside it
Key takeaways
- Now, a new report in Wired suggests the company s Applied AI team is on the verge of revolt.
- The drama kicked off when someone hijacked a livestreamed, employee-only presentation this week with an expletive-laden meltdown, demanding that attendees tell a senior Meta AI executive that he was a piece of sh_t.
- That outburst, Wired reports, reflects simmering rage inside the three-month-old unit of roughly 6,500 engineers and product managers who have been tasked with supporting the company s AI research ambitions.
Why this matters: a development in AI with implications for how people work, create, and decide.
Anyone who works at Meta or knows anyone who works at Meta will tell you the same thing: it is not a happy place, particularly given the seemingly endless layoffs the company has executed over the last few years — cuts that have only accelerated as the company funnels billions into AI.
Now, a new report in Wired suggests the company s Applied AI team is on the verge of revolt.
The drama kicked off when someone hijacked a livestreamed, employee-only presentation this week with an expletive-laden meltdown, demanding that attendees tell a senior Meta AI executive that he was a piece of sh_t. One presenter reportedly covered their face with their hands.