AI godfather Yann LeCun to leave Meta and start own firm

Just a couple of weeks ago, one of the “godfathers” of artificial intelligence was awarded reward from King Charles for his work in the field of artificial intelligence (AI).

Professor Yann LeCun was awarded the award along with six other laureates for his contributions to the field, which were recognized as contributions to the development of deep learning.

But Mr LeCun is at odds with some in the AI ​​world over the future of the generation-defining technology.

And now he's putting his vision of “advanced machine intelligence” into full swing, announcing that he's leaving his position as Meta's chief artificial intelligence scientist to start a new firm.

During his 12 years of work in the company, Professor LeCun received the prestigious Turing Award and has seen several waves of excitement around AI – not least the recent generative AI boom, accelerated by the launch of ChatGPT by rival OpenAI in late 2022.

But his departure comes amid speculation that the artificial intelligence boom could end abruptly if the so-called “AI bubble” of inflated prices and high costs bursts.

Investors, analysts and even big tech bosses like Google CEO Sundar Pichai stated that a market correction in the artificial intelligence sector will affect the entire economy.

Professor LeCun announced his planned departure from Meta on Wednesday after more than a week of rumors and reports about his departure.

In a series of posts on Threads, he thanked the company's founder Mark Zuckerberg and called its Fundamental Artificial Intelligence Research (FAIR) laboratory his “proudest non-technical achievement.”

“As many of you have heard through rumors or recent media articles, I plan to leave Meta after 12 years: 5 years as founding director of FAIR and 7 years as chief artificial intelligence scientist,” he said. wrote.

“FAIR's impact on the company, on the AI ​​field, on the technology community, and on the world at large has been remarkable.”

For many years, the laboratory has been developing systems and methods for the development of machine learning and translation.

But like much of the sector, Meta has sought to focus much of the company's research and spending on large language models (LLMs) – the systems that underpin generative AI tools such as chatbots and image generators.

Professor LeCun suggested that an LL.M. degree would be less useful in trying to create artificial intelligence systems capable of matching human intelligence.

Instead, he wants to pursue what he calls “advanced machine intelligence.”

It trains AI models primarily through visual learning, attempting to replicate the learning process of a child or baby animal.

This is in contrast to LLMs, which are fed huge amounts of existing data and then asked to generate a result based on the data and a prompt.

Professor LeCun will continue to maintain a relationship with Meta after he creates his new company, he said. I’m adding posts about his departure this will be a partner in his new firm.

But reports suggest he is moving further away from the approach the company wants to take.

Unlike fellow AI godfathers Geoffrey Hinton and Yoshua Bengio, Professor LeCun questioned the idea that AI could pose an existential threat to humanity.

In 2023, he called such concerns “absurdly ridiculous.”

“Will AI take over the world? No, this is a projection of human nature onto machines,” he said. he told the BBC.

But some have also questioned Professor LeCun's characterization as a standout or a visionary in the industry.

“Yann LeCun has without a doubt made a real contribution to the development of artificial intelligence, and I am pleased to see him again speaking out on the limits of the LL.M,” said artificial intelligence expert and professor Gary Marcus. in a recent blog.

“But he also systematically ignored and ignored the work of others for many years,” he added, including himself among those whose work he believes Professor LeCun often overlooked.