Meta freezes hiring for AI jobs: WSJ

Meta has paused recruitment in its artificial intelligence division after months of aggressive hiring, acquisitions, and billion-dollar investments in AI research, according to an exclusive report by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

The hiring freeze, which took effect last week and is part of a broader restructuring strategy, also prohibits current employees from transferring to other teams within the AI division, according to the report, citing people familiar with the matter.

Meta did not disclose how long the freeze would last, although exceptions can be made for external hires if permitted by Meta’s new chief AI officer, Alexandr Wang, the sources said.

A Meta spokesperson confirmed the freeze, saying the decision reflects ‘basic organizational planning: creating a solid structure for our new superintelligence efforts after bringing people on board and undertaking yearly budgeting and planning exercises.’

The WSJ report outlined Meta's reorganization of its AI operations into four units: a ‘TBD Lab’ dedicated to machine superintelligence, where most of the new hires are assigned, an AI products division, an infrastructure group, and a team for long-term projects and exploration. The latter, called Fundamental AI Research, remained largely untouched by the reorganization.

All four divisions will operate under the umbrella of ‘Meta Superintelligence Labs’, which reflects Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s pivot towards developing computer systems capable of outsmarting humans on cognitive tasks. 

Meta has committed significant financial resources to accomplish this vision, including offering top AI experts signing packages as high as $100 million. The company made headlines in June when Zuckerberg hired Wang, the co-founder and former CEO of Scale AI, to spearhead Meta’s AI efforts in exchange for a $14 billion stake in his company. 

As of mid-August, Meta had successfully brought more than 50 AI researchers and engineers from OpenAI, Google, Apple, xAI, and Anthropic, the report said.

The pause in recruitment comes as other large tech companies continue to funnel billions into AI research and infrastructure. This has led to growing concerns among investors about the pace of AI investments, especially with a recent selloff in technology stocks. 

On Monday, Morgan Stanley warned that the skyrocketing stock-based compensation packages offered by Meta and Google to prospective AI hires could threaten their ability to return capital to shareholders via buybacks. 

The exorbitant costs of hiring AI talent, the analysts said, ‘have the potential to drive AI breakthroughs with massive value creation or could dilute shareholder value without any clear innovation gains.’