Meta AI research head leaves as AI investment soars into the billions
Apr 01, 2025 - businessinsider.com
Joelle Pineau, Meta's head of AI research and leader of the Fundamental AI Research group (FAIR), is leaving the company amid significant AI investments. Her departure complicates Meta's competition with rivals like OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI. Pineau, who joined Meta in 2017, announced her exit on LinkedIn, stating it was time to create space for others. She will continue teaching at McGill University and plans to take time to reflect after leaving Meta. Her last day is May 30.
Pineau's exit comes as Meta, under CEO Mark Zuckerberg, commits up to $65 billion to AI projects this year, with a focus on making its open-source language model, Llama, an industry standard. Meta aims for its AI chatbot to reach a billion users across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Pineau's departure follows other leadership changes at Meta, including the exits of Dan Neary and Kate Hamill.
Key takeaways:
Joelle Pineau, Meta's head of AI research, is leaving the company amid significant AI investments.
Pineau's departure complicates Meta's competition with AI rivals like OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI.
Meta aims to make its Llama model the industry standard and reach a billion chatbot users.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg has committed $65 billion to AI projects this year.
