Meta Platforms is cutting 600 positions at its Superintelligence Labs, the center of its artificial intelligence ambitions, the company confirmed on Wednesday, taking a significant step toward lean AI innovation. Targeting Facebook AI Research (FAIR), product AI teams, and infrastructure units, these cuts are aimed at promoting agility and increasing individual impact, while Meta is accelerating hiring for its exclusive TBD Lab—to safeguard next-generation model development.

Chief AI officer Alexander Wang, who took over the department from Scale AI in June, wrote an internal memo calling the cuts necessary to streamline decision making. “By reducing the size of our team, each individual will be empowered with greater responsibility, scope, and influence,” Wang wrote, and urged displaced employees to make changes internally. The shuffle is reminiscent of the integration of foundational models, product AI, and FAIR under Superintelligence Labs in June, stemming from the departure of senior executives and the slow rollout of the open-source Llama 4 earlier this year. CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s post-pandemic hiring spree added thousands to the unit, but efficiency is now being prioritized in the race with OpenAI and Google.

Meta’s AI journey dates back to the launch of FAIR in 2013, where Yann LeCun was appointed as Chief Scientist to lead a leading role in deep learning. Today, Superintelligence Labs is accelerating Llama’s development, and TBD’s team of top researchers is focused on foundational breakthroughs.

The news comes days after Meta signed a historic $27 billion joint venture with Blue Owl Capital, the tech sector’s largest private financing, to finance the giant Hyperion data center in Louisiana. Blue Owl’s $7 billion cash investment, along with a loan from PIMCO, mitigates early risks, allowing AI computing to accelerate without burdening Meta’s balance sheet.

While Wall Street is praising the financial prudence—Meta shares rose 1.2%—critics are decrying the human cost in an industry that touts “superintelligence.” Still, as whispers of Llama 5 grow louder, Zuckerberg’s bet is clear: Trim to get ahead in the AGI arms race. For the 600 people affected, it’s a stark warning—innovation demands sacrifice.