Artificial intelligence expert Yann LeCun announced that he will leave his position as Meta’s chief AI scientist at the end of the year. LeCun plans to launch a startup focused on developing advanced artificial intelligence systems.
LeCun stated, “I will be forming a startup company to pursue research on advanced forms of AI that can ‘understand the physical world, have persistent memory, can reason, and can plan complex action sequences.’” He also said in a social media post that Meta will collaborate with his new company. Some of the research efforts will align with Meta’s business interests while others may not.
This announcement follows recent reports that Meta Platforms has begun cutting around 600 jobs in its AI division this fall. The company is the parent firm of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
LeCun joined Facebook in 2013 and played a key role in founding its AI research group, which later became known as Meta’s AI research division. Although he stepped down as director of this group in 2018, he continued to serve as Meta’s chief AI scientist. In addition to his work at Meta, LeCun has been teaching part-time at New York University since 2003.
