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Meta Lets Engineers Leave AI Training Unit After Mass Reassignment
Business Insider • • business
Key Points:
- Meta is reversing its policy of mandating engineers to join an Applied AI task force for training its AI models, now allowing employees to choose whether to participate, according to an internal memo obtained by Business Insider.
- The company initially reassigned 7,000 employees to the task force last month but faced backlash from staff who likened the work to data labeling.
- The memo emphasized supporting personal agency and noted that those in the task force would receive preferential placement in other company units due to staffing shortages.
- This change follows Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth's acknowledgment of a severe morale crisis during an internal meeting, coinciding with recent layoffs of 10% of Meta's workforce.
- Employees on internal forums referred to the memo as an "undraft," reflecting relief over the reversal of the forced reassignment policy.
