Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has made a major change in its operations. The company disbanded its Responsible AI division, a team dedicated to regulating the safety of its artificial intelligence ventures as they are developed and deployed. This move was confirmed a Meta spokesperson.
Most of the employees from the disbanded RAI team have been reassigned to the company’s Generative AI product division, with others now working on the AI Infrastructure team. This news was first reported The Information.
The Generative AI team, which was established in February, is focused on developing products that generate language and images to mimic human-made versions. This move comes as tech companies are investing heavily in machine learning development to stay competitive in the AI race. Meta is among the Big Tech companies that are playing catch-up since the AI boom took hold.
The restructuring of the RAI team is part of Meta’s “year of efficiency,” as CEO Mark Zuckerberg referred to it during a February earnings call. This has led to several layoffs, team-mergers, and redistributions within the company.
Ensuring the safety of AI has become a priority for top players in the industry, especially as regulators and other officials pay closer attention to the potential harms of this technology. In July, Anthropic, Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI formed an industry group focused on setting safety standards as AI advances.
Despite the disbanding of the RAI team, the spokesperson noted that Meta will continue to prioritize and invest in safe and responsible AI development. This move signals Meta’s ongoing commitment to responsible AI use and development.