Meta is yet again facing a major leadership shakeup, with chief AI scientist Yann LeCun stepping down after nearly 12 years with the company. LeCun announced his exit through a series of posts on Threads, revealing plans to launch his own AI startup. LeCun joined Meta in 2013 and spent five years as the founding director of the company’s Fundamental AI Research lab. He later became chief AI scientist, a position he held for seven years.
“The creation of FAIR is my proudest non-technical accomplishment,” LeCun shared in his announcement. He expressed deep gratitude to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other executives for their support throughout his tenure.
So why is he leaving now? LeCun is creating a startup company which he claims would “continue the Advanced Machine Intelligence research program (AMI) I have been pursuing over the last several years with colleagues at FAIR, at NYU, and beyond.”
Also read: Xiaomi 14 Civi price drops by over Rs 16,700 on Amazon: Check deal details here
His startup will focus on creating AI systems that can truly understand the physical world. “The goal of the startup is to bring about the next big revolution in AI: systems that understand the physical world, have persistent memory, can reason, and can plan complex action sequences,” LeCun explained.
Despite the departure, Meta will remain involved in LeCun’s new venture. “Meta will be a partner of the new company,” he stated, noting that while some applications of AMI align with Meta’s business interests, many do not. He believes operating independently will allow the technology to have a broader impact across different sectors.
Also read: Google Pixel 10 price drops by over Rs 15,900 on Amazon: How to grab this deal
LeCun plans to stay with Meta through the end of 2025 before fully transitioning to his startup. “I will give some more details about the new company when the time comes,” LeCun said, keeping further specifics under wraps for now.