Looks like AI could be the new Metaverse as CEO Mark Zuckerberg will reportedly 'downsize' Meta Superintelligence Labs and buy in third-party AI models

After blowing tens of billions of dollars to apparently no avail on the Metaverse, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been funnelling yet more billions into AI. But according to a new report in the New York Times, Meta is going to tighten the screw on the money tap. Meta's AI division will be "downsized."

First up, Meta announced that Meta Superintelligence Labs will be split into four groups: AI research, AI “superintelligence”, products and infrastructure and other AI hardware.

The New York Times claims that, "Meta is also looking at downsizing the AI division overall—which could include eliminating roles or moving employees to other parts of the company—because it has grown to thousands of people in recent years, the people said. Discussions remain fluid and no final decisions have been made on the downsizing."

Intriguingly, the report also claims that Meta is considering buying in AI models from third parties to power its products. "The company is also actively exploring using third-party artificial intelligence models," the New York Times claims.

Slightly contradicting the belt-tightening narrative, the outlet also says that Mark Zuckerberg, "is sparing no expense and is willing to upend his company to stay relevant in AI."

Moreover, it was only in June that Meta invested $14.3 billion in the start-up Scale AI and inserted its CEO, Alexandr Wang, as chief AI officer at Meta. Meanwhile, the company reportedly acquired the services of "of 24-year-old AI prodigy" Matt Deitke courtesy of a $250 million pay deal.

Likewise, the New York Times says that Meta's overall capital expenditure could hit $72 billion this year, much of which will be spent on AI. So, yeah, there's still a bit of money knocking around Meta to spend on AI.

Apparently, the restructuring is in part a response to tensions within Meta. New hire Alexandr Wang reportedly wants Meta's superintelligence model to be closed rather than open source and has ditched the company's existing superintelligence model, known as Behemoth, to start from scratch. The New York Times also notes the departure of several senior AI operatives from Meta.

Overall, this is a pretty mixed narrative, at best. There's the idea that Meta is downsizing its AI activities, all the while spending billions on acquisitions, hundreds of millions on pay packages, and restarting its superintelligence quest from scratch.

The reported turmoil certainly puts Zuckerberg's claims just last month that superintelligence is now "in sight" into an uncomfortable, if not implausible, context. Of course, Zuckerberg has form when it comes to, well, optimism over new technologies.

He has, after all, renamed the entire company after the Metaverse, a project that's lost a total of $45 billion in three years from 2022, about the same as the annual budget of NASA. Indeed, Reality Labs, the Meta division responsible for the Metaverse, is still losing money, with another $8.64 billion down the drain so far this year. Whether Zuckerberg's quest for superintelligence will be any more successful remains to be seen.