Meta’s Applied AI unit, a three‑month‑old organization of roughly 6,500 engineers and product managers, has become the focus of a growing internal revolt. Employees say the work environment feels like a “gulag,” with many describing their daily tasks as soul‑crushing. The tension boiled over during a recent employee‑only livestreamed presentation, when an attendee interrupted the session with a profanity‑laden tirade, demanding that a senior AI executive be called a "piece of sh*t." The outburst left the presenter covering their face, underscoring the depth of frustration within the group.
The unit was formed to bolster Meta’s AI research ambitions, particularly to train models on real‑world examples of how people complete technical tasks such as coding. According to an internal announcement reviewed by Business Insider, employees were drafted into the team via surprise emails, a process described on Reddit as “quite random.” Those drafted—self‑identified as “draftees”—were told that Meta’s AI models needed the intelligence of its own workforce to outperform human performance on technical challenges.
Employees say they were given little choice: join the Applied AI team or quit. Their primary assignment involves generating puzzles and coding problems that feed the AI’s training data. One worker told Wired the experience is “literally the gulag,” while another noted that “most people find the work soul‑crushing.” The pressure is not limited to the Applied AI group; more than 1,600 Meta staff across the company have signed a petition protesting a program that monitors clicks and keystrokes for AI training purposes.
Meta’s leadership has begun to address the unrest. Chief product officer Chris Cox held a call with employees, describing the environment as “brutal.” CEO Mark Zuckerberg sent an internal memo acknowledging that recent changes “caused distress” and admitting the company had made mistakes it intends to fix. In the memo, Zuckerberg reiterated Meta’s “north star” of being the best place for the world’s most talented people to make an impact.
The Applied AI unit reports up to Meta’s chief technology officer, Andrew Bosworth, and is led by Maher Saba, a veteran of the company who previously oversaw the Reality Labs division. The unit’s original structure allowed up to 50 employees to report to a single manager, a ratio that many staff see as contributing to the oppressive atmosphere.
Amid the turmoil, the broader context includes a wave of layoffs that have accelerated as Meta redirects billions toward AI initiatives. Employees who were moved into the Applied AI team often learned of their reassignment through abrupt emails, fueling a sense of uncertainty and lack of agency. The combination of forced transfers, demanding workloads, and invasive data‑collection practices has created a climate that many insiders describe as hostile.
TechCrunch has reached out to Meta for comment, but no response has been reported at the time of writing. The unfolding situation highlights the challenges tech giants face as they scale AI efforts while trying to retain employee morale and trust.
Dieser Artikel wurde mit Unterstützung von KI verfasst.
News Factory APP - agentische News für besseres SEO & AEO.