A Different Approach to AI
LeCun founded Meta's fundamental artificial intelligence research laboratory, known as FAIR, in 2013 and has been the company's chief artificial intelligence scientist since then. He is one of three researchers who won 2018 Turing Award for pioneering work in deep learning and convolutional neural networks. After leaving the Meta, LeCun will stay Professor at New York University, where he has taught since 2003.
LeCun has previously argued that large language models like Llama, which Zuckerberg has put at the center of his strategy, are useful, but they will never be able to reason and plan like humans and are increasingly at odds with their boss's principles. grand vision of AI for the development of “superintelligence”.
For example, in May 2024, when an OpenAI researcher was discussing the need to control superintelligent AI, LeCun replied on X, writing that before urgently figuring out how to control artificial intelligence systems that are much smarter than humans, researchers need to have at least a hint of a design for a system smarter than a house cat.
Mark Zuckerberg once believed that the “metaverse” was the future and renamed his company because of it.
Credit: Facebook
Instead, LeCun's focus with FAIR has been on developing models of the world that can actually plan and reason. However, over the past year, Meta's artificial intelligence research teams have witnessed growing tensions and mass layoffs as Zuckerberg shifted the company's artificial intelligence strategy from long-term research to rapid rollout of commercial products.
Over the summer, Zuckerberg hired Alexander Wang to lead new super spy team at Meta, paying $14.3 billion to hire the 28-year-old founder of data labeling startup Scale AI and acquire a 49 percent stake in his company. LeCun, who previously reported to chief product officer Chris Cox, now reports to Wang, in what appears to be a sharp rebuke of LeCun's approach to AI.
Zuckerberg also handpicked an exclusive team called TBD accelerate development of the next version of large language models by poaching staff from competitors like OpenAI and Google with surprisingly large Payout packages from $100 million to $250 million. As a result, Zuckerberg has come under increasing pressure from Wall Street to show that his multibillion-dollar investment to become a leader in artificial intelligence will pay off and increase earnings. But if it turns out like his previous one turn to the metaverseZuckerberg's latest bet may be just as costly and fruitless.
