 |
| Mark says there few seats on the beat of his AI lab/photo/AP |
Mark Zuckerberg said roles in Meta's super intelligence lab are precious comparing it to seats on a boat .
"Seats on the boat are invaluable," Zuckerberg remarked during the "State of AI with Rowan Cheung" podcast. Any poor hiring choices or excessive organizational layers could hinder the entire operation.
"You don't require hundreds of individuals — just 50 to 100 people," Zuckerberg explained. "It's akin to a collaborative science project."
Recently, Zuckerberg expressed his intention to create "small, talent-rich teams" to advance the company's AI ambitions. Securing a position on this team comes with advantages: Many researchers receive multimillion-dollar compensation packages and gain access to substantial funding for GPU computing expenses, along with reduced deadline pressures from corporate management
Meta initiated its hiring surge for the superintelligence lab after Zuckerberg concluded that its Llama-4 AI model was "not on the right path," he said.
The company invested $15 billion to acquire nearly a 50% stake in Scale AI, a deal that also brought CEO Alexandr Wang to Meta to oversee Zuckerberg's superintelligence lab.
Meta allocated many millions more to recruit for the AI lab's ancillary roles, attracting top talent from OpenAI and Google DeepMind, among others.
Zuckerberg added that the superintelligence team was particularly sensitive to talent.
"If someone isn't contributing effectively, it can have a significant negative impact, unlike many other areas of the company," he remarked.
Once researchers secure one of the superintelligence lab's extremely scarce positions, they won't encounter any top-down deadlines, Zuckerberg indicated.
"It's research — the duration is uncertain," he stated. "Everyone is competitive. They all aspire to be at the cutting edge and engage in pioneering work. Imposing a deadline on them won't be beneficial."
Big Tech, particularly Meta, has spearheaded a significant reduction in the layers of corporate hierarchy, streamlining the workforce by decreasing the number of middle management positions to enhance agility.
While companies like Google and Microsoft have recently adopted similar strategies, Zuckerberg has been an advocate for a flatter management structure for some time.
This philosophy extends to the superintelligence lab, where he emphasized the importance of maintaining a "very flat" team dynamic.
He expressed concerns about non-technical management layers, noting that individuals who transition from technical roles to management often lose touch with the hands-on work, diminishing their effectiveness over time.