Yann LeCun Leaves Meta to Launch AI Startup Focused on Advanced Machine Intelligence :

Yann LeCun, widely regarded as one of the godfathers of modern artificial intelligence, has confirmed he is leaving Meta to launch his own AI startup. The 65-year-old made the announcement in a LinkedIn post, putting an end to long-standing speculation about his departure. “As many of you have heard through rumors or recent media articles, I am planning to leave Meta after 12 years: 5 years as founding director of FAIR and 7 years as Chief AI Scientist,” LeCun wrote. LeCun joined Meta in 2013 as the founding director of Facebook AI Research (FAIR), where he helped build one of the world’s leading AI research teams. Over the years, FAIR became synonymous with groundbreaking research in machine learning, computer vision, and AI theory. Rumors of his exit had been circulating for some time, fueled by recent organizational changes at Meta and differences in vision. The company recently reorganized its AI teams, creating a new division called “Superintelligence Labs,” led by 28-year-old Alexandr Wang. LeCun, who had previously reported to Chief Product Officer Chris Cox, began reporting to Wang under the new structure. The timing of these changes coincided with a wave of layoffs at Meta in October, which saw around 600 employees lose their jobs. Many of those affected were from FAIR, adding to the perception that the new Superintelligence Labs represented a shift away from the independence and research-focused culture LeCun had cultivated over the years. LeCun’s departure also highlights deeper differences in AI philosophy. While major tech companies, including Meta, are pouring resources into large language models, LeCun has long argued that these models alone are insufficient for achieving truly intelligent systems. His research has focused on what he calls “Advanced Machine Intelligence” — AI systems capable of reasoning, planning, and understanding the real world in a more human-like manner. His new startup will pursue these ambitions. “I am creating a startup company to 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,” LeCun explained. “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,” he added. Despite leaving Meta, LeCun emphasized that the company would remain a partner in his new endeavor. In his LinkedIn post, he expressed gratitude toward Meta leadership for supporting FAIR over the years, specifically mentioning Mark Zuckerberg, Andrew Bosworth, Chris Cox, and Mike Schroepfer. LeCun’s exit marks the end of a significant chapter for both him and Meta. His contributions helped shape the trajectory of modern AI research, influencing areas ranging from neural network design to self-supervised learning. Now, with his new venture, the AI community will be watching closely to see whether his vision for Advanced Machine Intelligence can redefine the field once again. At 65, the Turing Award-winning researcher is setting out on a bold new path — one that may well determine what the next generation of AI looks like.

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