Facebook parent Meta has lost some of its top artificial intelligence scientists this year as the company continues its pivot toward the metaverse.
At least four prominent members of Meta AI have departed in recent months, according to people familiar with the matter and LinkedIn analysis. Between them, the scientists have published dozens of academic papers in world-renowned journals and made multiple breakthroughs that Meta has used to enhance Facebook and Instagram.
Karl Hermann, an AI entrepreneur who used to work at rival lab DeepMind, told CNBC on Monday the true figure could be more like half a dozen, adding that the company’s London AI lab had seen an alarming number of exits. “Meta’s London office just collapsed and they lost most of their [top] researchers in the span of six weeks,” he said.
Neil Lawrence, professor of machine learning at the University of Cambridge, told CNBC that he wasn’t surprised. “Mark’s [Zuckerberg] gone all Meta now ... and they never invested properly in anything in London in the first place,” he said.
Those who have left the company include Edward Grefenstette, a research scientist that led Meta’s efforts on a branch of AI known as reinforcement learning, who departed in February. He declined to comment when contacted by CNBC.
