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

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760 points MindBreaker2605 | 2 comments | 12 Nov 25 07:25 UTC | HN request time: 0.41s | source
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sebmellen ◴[12 Nov 25 07:57 UTC] No.45897467[source]▶
Making LeCun report to Wang was the most boneheaded move imaginable. But… I suppose Zuckerberg knows what he wants, which is AI slopware and not truly groundbreaking foundation models.
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xuancanh ◴[12 Nov 25 08:55 UTC] No.45897885[source]▶
In industry research, someone in a chief position like LeCun should know how to balance long-term research with short-term projects. However, for whatever reason, he consistently shows hostility toward LLMs and engineering projects, even though Llama and PyTorch are two of the most influential projects from Meta AI. His attitude doesn’t really match what is expected from a Chief position at a product company like Facebook. When Llama 4 got criticized, he distanced himself from the project, stating that he only leads FAIR and that the project falls under a different organization. That kind of attitude doesn’t seem suitable for the face of AI at the company. It's not a surprise that Zuck tried to demote him.
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1. whiplash451 ◴[12 Nov 25 16:40 UTC] No.45902275[source]▶
It's very hard (and almost irreconcilable) to lead both Applied Research -- that optimizes for product/business outcomes -- and Fundamental Research -- that optimizes for novel ideas -- especially at the scale of Meta.

LeCun had chosen to focus on the latter. He can't be blamed for not having taken the second hat.

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2. HDThoreaun ◴[12 Nov 25 17:43 UTC] No.45903160[source]▶
Yes he can. If he wanted to focus on fundamental research he shouldn’t have accepted a leadership position at a product company. He knew going in that releasing products was part of his job and largely blew it.