Meta’s AI Research Head Joelle Pineau Announces Resignation

Joelle Pineau, vice president of AI Research at Meta, on Tuesday announced her resignation after nearly eight years with the company. Pineau, who joined Meta in 2017, revealed in a LinkedIn post that her last day will be May 30. Her departure comes as Meta intensifies its focus on artificial intelligence (AI), with plans to invest $65 billion in AI infrastructure this year.

“Today, as the world undergoes significant change, as the race for AI accelerates, and as Meta prepares for its next chapter, it is time to create space for others to pursue the work,” Pineau wrote. She also revealed that she is planning to take time to “observe and reflect” before embarking on her next venture.

Pineau played a pivotal role in advancing AI research at Meta. She led the Fundamental AI Research (FAIR) group and spearheaded projects like PyTorch and Llama, among other open source initiatives. These efforts have significantly influenced Meta’s products and the broader AI community. “I arrived at Meta…with the simple goal of solving AI and open-sourcing our research to accelerate innovation through the broader ecosystem,” she stated.

Under her leadership, FAIR grew into a team of approximately 1,000 researchers across ten locations globally. Pineau also emphasised responsible AI development during her tenure.

Pineau’s resignation comes amid fierce competition in AI development among tech giants like OpenAI and Google. The announcement also precedes Meta’s inaugural LlamaCon conference on April 29, which aims to showcase its advancements in AI technology.

Meta has not named a successor for Pineau yet. 

In addition to her industry work, Pineau will continue her academic role as a professor at McGill University’s School of Computer Science in Montreal. While she has not disclosed specific details about her next steps, she expressed optimism about the future of AI research at Meta. “I will be cheering from the sidelines, knowing that you have all the ingredients needed to build the best AI systems in the world.”