Meta AI Division Restructured Into Four Teams Amid Job Cut Concerns
Meta AI division is once again in the spotlight as the company pushes through a major restructuring, splitting its artificial intelligence operations into four distinct teams. The move comes as CEO Mark Zuckerberg doubles down on his vision of building advanced AI, but it has also triggered speculation about looming job cuts within the unit.
The changes were communicated internally this week through a memo from Alexandr Wang, Meta’s newly appointed chief AI officer and former Scale AI CEO. In his note, Wang emphasized the need for sharper focus if the company is to achieve its long-term ambition of creating what Zuckerberg has described as “superintelligence.”
Four Teams, Four Focus Areas
Under the restructuring plan, the Meta AI division will now be divided into four units, each with a clear mandate. The first will handle large language models such as Llama, which powers Meta’s AI assistant and other generative tools. The second will continue long-term research through FAIR (Fundamental AI Research), a lab that has been a cornerstone of Meta’s AI efforts for over a decade.
The third team, to be led by former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman, will focus on integrating AI into Meta’s vast portfolio of consumer products — from Instagram and Facebook to WhatsApp and Threads. Finally, a fourth team under Aparna Ramani will manage infrastructure, covering data centers, computing hardware, and other critical resources needed to support AI at scale.
This reorganisation is designed to bring structure and direction to an area that has rapidly expanded in the past year. Employees were told the division must align itself with the key areas that will define Meta’s place in the global AI race.
Hiring Spree Meets Possible Cuts
The announcement comes after an unprecedented hiring spree in the Meta AI division. Over the past 12 months, Meta has recruited some of the world’s leading AI researchers, often poaching them from rivals like Google and OpenAI with eye-catching compensation packages running into hundreds of millions of dollars.
Zuckerberg has also pledged to invest “hundreds of billions” of dollars over the coming years, covering both the talent and the infrastructure needed to deliver superintelligence. However, the sudden shift toward reorganisation has created uncertainty. Reports from outlets including The New York Times suggest that Meta is considering trimming or reassigning roles within the AI division, which has grown into a workforce of several thousand.
For many employees, this represents a stark change from the earlier narrative where AI was seen as the company’s single biggest growth driver. The possibility of layoffs has unsettled staff, especially after months of hearing about limitless opportunities in the field.
Leadership Changes and the Road Ahead
This is not the first shake-up for the Meta AI division. Earlier this year, the AGI foundations group, which focused on generative AI research, was dissolved, and its leaders reassigned. Other high-profile executives have also shifted roles or left the company altogether. Connor Hayes, once in charge of AI products, was moved to oversee Threads, while Loredana Crisan departed for design platform Figma.
These frequent changes highlight both the urgency and turbulence inside Meta as it scrambles to catch up with rivals. While Google and OpenAI have already launched consumer-facing AI products with significant adoption, Meta is still refining its systems and considering alternative approaches, including licensing third-party models.
For now, company leaders argue that the split will bring clarity and sharper focus to an otherwise sprawling organization. Still, with ongoing leadership churn and potential job cuts, the Meta AI division faces an uncertain path ahead. What remains clear is Zuckerberg’s willingness to spend heavily to secure a leadership role in the AI race — even if the internal road to that goal is far from smooth.
