Meta has frozen hiring in its AI division following a wave of aggressive talent poaching, according to The Wall Street Journal. The freeze, which went into effect last week, comes just days after the company restructured its AI arm, Meta Superintelligence Labs, into four new groups: TBD Labs, led by Scale AI founder Alexandr Wang, and three teams focused on research, product integration, and infrastructure.
Meta confirmed the hiring pause, calling it “basic organizational planning” after onboarding new hires and completing its annual budgeting process.The move comes as CEO Mark Zuckerberg intensifies efforts to gain an edge in the AI race, personally recruiting top researchers and offering pay packages reportedly worth nine figures.
Analysts, however, have raised concerns that Meta’s skyrocketing stock-based compensation could put pressure on shareholder returns.
