AI Godfather Yann LeCun to Quit Meta, Launch Startup to Challenge LLMs

ann LeCun is leaving Meta. He serves as the company’s chief AI scientist. Mr. LeCun, a Turing Award winner, plans to launch his own AI company soon. Reports confirm he will depart Meta in the next few months.

This news follows a major shift in Meta’s AI strategy. CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently created a new Superintelligence Labs division. He hired Alexandr Wang to lead the firm’s accelerated AI efforts. Consequently, Mr. LeCun now reports to Mr. Wang.

This change signals potential friction at Meta. LeCun is famously skeptical of Large Language Models (LLMs). LLMs currently power popular AI chatbots. Instead, his new startup will focus on “world models.” This system aims to train AI to truly understand the physical world. He believes this approach is the right path to human-level intelligence. LeCun has already begun talks to raise money for his new project. His departure is a significant loss for Meta’s long-term research arm, FAIR.