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    Yann LeCun to depart Meta and launch AI startup focused on 'world models'

    (www.nasdaq.com)
    760 points MindBreaker2605 | 18 comments | 12 Nov 25 07:25 UTC | HN request time: 0.531s | source | bottom
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    mehulashah ◴[12 Nov 25 13:21 UTC] No.45899804[source]▶
    Most of the folks on this topic are focused on Meta and Yann’s departure. But, I’m seeing something different.

    This is the weirdest technology market that I’ve seen. Researchers are getting rewarded with VC money to try what remains a science experiment. That used to be a bad word and now that gets rewarded with billions of dollars in valuation.

    replies(32): >>45899874 #>>45899875 #>>45899899 #>>45899901 #>>45900006 #>>45900079 #>>45900194 #>>45900255 #>>45900503 #>>45900521 #>>45900598 #>>45900784 #>>45900879 #>>45900974 #>>45901096 #>>45901209 #>>45901645 #>>45901914 #>>45902184 #>>45902195 #>>45902236 #>>45902357 #>>45902533 #>>45902641 #>>45902792 #>>45902972 #>>45903154 #>>45903226 #>>45903630 #>>45904085 #>>45904807 #>>45906016 #
    DebtDeflation ◴[12 Nov 25 13:31 UTC] No.45899899[source]▶
    That's been true for the last year or two, but it feels like we're at an inflection point. All of the announcements from OpenAI for the last couple of months have been product focused - Instant Checkout, AgentKit, etc. Anthropic seems 100% focused on Claude Code. We're not hearing as much about AGI/Superintelligence (thank goodness) as we were earlier this year, in fact the big labs aren't even talking much about their next model releases. The focus has pivoted to building products from existing models (and building massive data centers to support anticipated consumption).
    replies(3): >>45900068 #>>45901012 #>>45902265 #
    1. brandall10 ◴[12 Nov 25 13:43 UTC] No.45900068[source]▶
    Meta hiring researchers en masse at $100m+ pay packages is fairly new, as of this summer.

    I don't know if that's indicative of the market as a whole though. Zuck just seems really gutted they fell behind with Llama 4.

    replies(5): >>45900350 #>>45900524 #>>45900799 #>>45901073 #>>45901843 #
    2. andsoitis ◴[12 Nov 25 14:07 UTC] No.45900350[source]▶
    > Meta hiring researchers en masse at $100m+ pay packages is fairly new, as of this summer.

    En masse? Wasn't it just a couple of outliers?

    replies(1): >>45900693 #
    3. rco8786 ◴[12 Nov 25 14:20 UTC] No.45900524[source]▶
    "en masse" is a stretch
    4. debo_ ◴[12 Nov 25 14:33 UTC] No.45900693[source]▶
    en deux
    replies(1): >>45903843 #
    5. renegade-otter ◴[12 Nov 25 14:40 UTC] No.45900799[source]▶
    A lot of them left in the first days on the job. I guess they saw what they were going to work on and peaced out. No one wants to work on AI slop and mental abuse of children on social media.
    replies(3): >>45900855 #>>45902547 #>>45902981 #
    6. ikamm ◴[12 Nov 25 14:44 UTC] No.45900855[source]▶
    I don't understand how an intelligent person could accept a job offer from Facebook in 2025 and not understand what company they just agreed to work for.
    replies(3): >>45900939 #>>45901671 #>>45902211 #
    7. kjreact ◴[12 Nov 25 14:51 UTC] No.45900939{3}[source]▶
    It’s probably a VC fundraising strategy, “Meta gave me 100s of millions so you should give me more”.
    8. ◴[12 Nov 25 15:01 UTC] No.45901073[source]▶
    9. pirates ◴[12 Nov 25 15:53 UTC] No.45901671{3}[source]▶
    Those people are intelligent, they’re just selfish and have no qualms over making money off the repugnant crap they’re doing.
    replies(1): >>45903961 #
    10. DebtDeflation ◴[12 Nov 25 16:05 UTC] No.45901843[source]▶
    This summer was a lifetime ago.
    11. IncreasePosts ◴[12 Nov 25 16:35 UTC] No.45902211{3}[source]▶
    It helps when they hand you comically large sacks with dollar signs on them
    replies(1): >>45902806 #
    12. dylan604 ◴[12 Nov 25 16:58 UTC] No.45902547[source]▶
    > No one wants to work on AI slop and mental abuse of children on social media.

    If this was true, we wouldn't have AI slop and mental abuse of children. Since we do, we know your comment is just flat out incorrect.

    13. aswanson ◴[12 Nov 25 17:18 UTC] No.45902806{4}[source]▶
    I wonder if the 100 million dollar guys got a signing bonus like athletes. Just take 10 mill and chuck up deuces.
    14. Anon1096 ◴[12 Nov 25 17:30 UTC] No.45902981[source]▶
    Stated without a shred of evidence and getting no pushback. Classic for a nonsense claim about big tech company HN doesn't like, lol.
    replies(1): >>45903689 #
    15. renegade-otter ◴[12 Nov 25 18:17 UTC] No.45903689{3}[source]▶
    https://www.wired.com/story/researchers-leave-meta-superinte...
    16. kayge ◴[12 Nov 25 18:26 UTC] No.45903843{3}[source]▶
    I think it was more than 2 though... en few? En feux.
    17. 998244353 ◴[12 Nov 25 18:33 UTC] No.45903961{4}[source]▶
    In that case, how come they "left in the first days of the job" because "they saw what they were going to work on and peaced out"?
    replies(1): >>45905787 #
    18. CamperBob2 ◴[12 Nov 25 20:11 UTC] No.45905787{5}[source]▶
    They may have found that the work they were called upon to perform was worse than what they'd been led to expect. Maybe much worse.