Yann LeCun, Meta's leading researcher in artificial intelligence, intends to leave the company in the coming months to establish his own startup. According to the Financial Times, he has shared this news with a few friends.
One source revealed that LeCun, a Turing Award winner, is already in early discussions to secure funding for his own enterprise, though no official comments have been made by either party.
LeCun's departure coincides with Meta's shift in its AI development strategy, as it seeks to more effectively compete with Google and OpenAI. As part of this strategy, Mark Zuckerberg has opted for rapid deployment of new models and products over extensive research done in LeCun's lab.
To meet its goals, Meta has been actively recruiting AI specialists from other companies into its new team. In June, Alexander Wang, the founder and former CEO of Scale AI, joined the company. Zuckerberg has also repeatedly tried to lure employees from Apple and OpenAI, facing criticism from Sam Altman.
These strategic changes have led to some disagreements between Zuckerberg and LeCun. The latter has stated that the models being developed by Meta could be useful but will never reach the level of human thought.