Meta's newly formed Applied AI unit, employing approximately 6,500 engineers and product managers, is reportedly experiencing significant internal turmoil and a "soul-crushing" work environment. A recent report from Wired suggests that the three-month-old team is on the brink of a revolt, with employees expressing deep dissatisfaction over their assigned roles and the manner in which they were integrated into the division.
The simmering discontent reportedly escalated during a recent internal, employee-only presentation, which was disrupted by an expletive-laden outburst. An individual hijacked the livestream, demanding that a senior Meta AI executive be told he was "a piece of sh_t." This incident is understood to reflect broader anger within the unit, where many employees feel they were given no real choice but to join the team or face leaving the company, leading some to refer to themselves as "draftees." Their primary task involves generating puzzles and coding problems designed to train AI models.
Further compounding the internal issues, more than 1,600 Meta employees across the wider organisation have signed a petition protesting a programme that monitors their clicks and keystrokes for AI training data. Even Meta's Chief Product Officer, Chris Cox, reportedly described the current internal environment as "brutal" during a call with employees this week, indicating a pervasive sense of unease within the tech giant.
The Applied AI team is overseen by Maher Saba, who previously held a Vice President role within Meta's Reality Labs division. This division famously incurred significant financial losses, reportedly amounting to $83 billion, during Meta's focus on the metaverse before the company shifted its strategic priorities towards artificial intelligence. The new AI organisation reports directly to Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth.
In response to the growing concerns, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly addressed the situation in an internal memo. On Friday, he acknowledged that recent changes within the company had "caused distress" and admitted that mistakes had been made, which Meta plans to rectify. He reportedly added that "Meta’s north star is to be the best place for the most talented people in the world to make an impact," suggesting a commitment to improving the internal environment.
Source: Wired