Latest news with #LLaMA
NDTV
12-07-2025
- Business
- NDTV
"Metastatic Cancer": Meta AI Researcher Slams Company Culture In Exit Memo
A departing AI researcher at Meta has criticised the tech giant's internal culture, likening it to a 'metastatic cancer' in a farewell email. The internal message, accessed by The Information, was written by Tijmen Blankevoort, a senior figure on the team behind Meta's LLaMA AI models. In his note, Mr Blankevoort painted a bleak picture of the company's AI division, which, he said, was gripped by anxiety and organisational chaos. 'We are in a culture of fear,' he wrote, blaming incessant performance reviews and repeated layoffs for sapping employee motivation and stifling creativity. Though Meta's AI division has expanded rapidly to over 2,000 personnel, Mr Blankevoort claims the growth was matched by a clear vision or cohesive strategy. Many employees are unhappy in their roles and lack a clear understanding of the team's overall purpose, he added. Mr Blankevoort's most damning indictment pointed to a deeper malaise infecting Meta as a whole: 'It's not just dysfunction, it's a metastatic cancer that is affecting the entire organisation,' he wrote. This comes even as Meta is doubling down on its artificial intelligence ambitions. The company is racing to compete with the likes of OpenAI and Google DeepMind by establishing a new Superintelligence Labs unit, focused on developing artificial general intelligence (AGI). As part of this push, Meta has ramped up its recruitment efforts, luring top-tier researchers from across the industry with lucrative compensation packages. Among the latest additions is Ruoming Pang, the former head of Apple's Foundation Models team, who will now help lead the charge in Meta's AGI efforts, as reported by Bloomberg. Other recent hires include AI scientists from OpenAI, Anthropic and Google, such as Yuanzhi Li and Anton Bakhtin. These aggressive recruitment efforts have not gone unnoticed. They have drawn criticism from rivals, with OpenAI executives expressing concern over the company's approach to poaching talent. They have alleged that exorbitant signing bonuses were offered to entice key staff. Meta, though, defended its actions, stating that such high compensation packages are rare and usually extended only to senior leadership. Despite Meta's talent acquisition spree, Mr Blankevoort's exit note highlighted that internal morale and direction may remain significant obstacles. According to The Information, his message has triggered internal discussions and reflection within the company.
Express Tribune
11-07-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
Meta to help advance digitalisation
Listen to article Pakistan and an international technology company have explored the potential of advancing digitalisation, promoting the role of artificial intelligence (AI) and enhancing cooperation in public sector innovation and capacity building. Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja held a meeting on Thursday with a high-level delegation from Meta, led by Sarim Aziz, Director of South and Central Asia Public Policy. The minister highlighted the government's strong commitment to the Digital Pakistan vision, noting that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chairs a weekly review meeting on national transition towards a cashless economy. She reiterated that building a digitally empowered society was central to the prime minister's vision of Digital Pakistan, where emerging technologies play a pivotal role in governance, service delivery and economic transformation. Meta's team briefed the minister on the company's latest developments in AI, including the LLaMA open-source models, generative AI applications for the public sector and progress on local language models including Urdu.
Express Tribune
10-07-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
Meta offers support for urdu AI models as Pakistan deepens digital push
Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication, Shaza Fatima Khawaja, met with a high-level delegation from Meta, led by Sarim Aziz, Director of Public Policy for South and Central Asia, to discuss strengthening Pakistan's digital infrastructure, scaling artificial intelligence adoption, and empowering youth through technology. Meta presented its latest developments in AI, including the LLaMA open-source models, Generative AI tools for public sector innovation, and work on Urdu-language AI models. The company also expressed interest in helping Pakistan build local AI capacity and expanding technical training initiatives. Shaza Fatima reiterated the government's full commitment to a digital Pakistan, emphasizing that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif personally chairs weekly meetings on the country's shift toward a cashless economy. She stressed that digital skills for youth remain a top national priority, and that public-private partnerships like this are essential to unlocking the country's future potential. 'The effective use of AI is not optional—it is foundational for Pakistan's next phase of development,' she said. 'Initiatives that enhance youth capacity and improve public service delivery are not just welcome—they're necessary.' Both sides agreed to explore deeper collaboration in digital skilling, AI adoption in governance, and innovation-driven partnerships that can accelerate Pakistan's digital transformation.
India Today
10-07-2025
- Business
- India Today
Former Meta AI researcher says there is a culture of fear in the company that is spreading like cancer
A former Meta researcher on his way out of the company sent an internal email in which he raised serious concerns about the company's AI division, describing it as plagued by fear, confusion, and dysfunction. The essay that was viewed by The Information, Tijmen Blankevoort, compared the company's culture to a 'metastatic cancer' that is spreading throughout the organisation. Blankevoort was part of the team working on Meta's LLaMA models. Before exiting, he wrote a lengthy note criticising Meta's leadership, saying that many employees feel lost and unmotivated. 'We are in a culture of fear,' he wrote, blaming frequent performance reviews and waves of layoffs for damaging employee morale and said the AI division, now more than 2,000 people strong, is suffering from a lack of direction. 'Most do not enjoy being here,' he added. 'And they don't even know what our mission is.' Blankevoort claimed that repeated internal conflicts and unclear goals are hurting the team's ability to innovate. 'It's not just dysfunction – it's a metastatic cancer that is affecting the entire organisation,' he criticism comes just as Meta is aggressively expanding its AI operations to catch up with rivals like OpenAI and Google DeepMind. The company has recently created a new unit called Superintelligence Labs, which will focus on building artificial general intelligence (AGI). Meta has been hiring top talent across the industry, often with offers worth millions of dollars annually. Earlier this week, Bloomberg reported that Ruoming Pang, who previously led Apple's Foundation Models team, is joining Meta's new Superintelligence division. He is expected to play a key role in Meta's push for advanced AI systems, including a smarter version of its assistant. Alongside Pang, Meta has also hired researchers from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google, including Yuanzhi Li and Anton hiring spree has caused tension across the AI sector. OpenAI's chief researcher, Mark Chen, likened Meta's recruiting tactics to 'someone breaking into our home and stealing something.' CEO Sam Altman also claimed that Meta had offered signing bonuses of $100 million to lure his team. Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth dismissed these reports, saying that such compensation was rare and limited to key leadership the high-profile hires, Blankevoort's comments suggest that Meta still faces deep-rooted internal challenges. His essay has sparked internal reflection, according to The Information, and serves as a reminder that talent alone may not be enough if the underlying culture is broken.- Ends
Al Etihad
08-07-2025
- Business
- Al Etihad
AI-driven startup in Abu Dhabi helps businesses cut costs, carbon emissions
9 July 2025 01:05 MAYS IBRAHIM (ABU DHABI)CarbonSifr is proving that climate action doesn't have to come at the cost of AI-powered climate-tech startup, backed by Abu Dhabi's Hub71, has been helping businesses measure, reduce, and remove their carbon emissions – while unlocking cost savings and new revenue company's CEO and Co-Founder, Onur Elgun, recognised a growing appetite for sustainability in the GCC region, not just among companies, but their customers, was built to meet that demand, offering a simple solution to what is typically a data-heavy, time-consuming collection and emissions baselining – tasks that once required teams of consultants and months of work – can now be completed in hours, with a drag-and-drop only need to upload their data: procurement records, utility bills, and travel platform's AI engine analyses millions of data points, maps them to localised emissions factors, and identifies carbon hotspots, low-emission alternatives, and cost-saving opportunities.'We're talking about 40 million SKUs [stock keeping units] worth of procurement data for some clients,' Elgun said in an interview with Aletihad. 'No human team can clean, enrich and map that. This is where AI takes over.' Beyond Emissions ReportsUnlike platforms that focus on emissions reporting, which Elgun likens to 'taking a photo of a house on fire', CarbonSifr is built to drive business outcomes. Clients aren't just told what their carbon footprint is. They're shown how to reduce it and turn it into competitive advantage.'Reporting alone doesn't reduce emissions or increase revenues,' Elgun said. 'We go a step further by converting emissions data into business intelligence, whether that's cost reductions or new customer engagement opportunities.'The platform helped the ride-hailing giant Careem introduce an 'eco-friendly ride' option, calculate the emissions per trip, and offset them through local mangrove under a year, Careem completed half a million of these low-emission rides, engaging over 100,000 customers and unlocking a valuable new market segment.'These eco-products tap into a younger, climate-conscious demographic,' Elgun said. 'They boost customer acquisition, increase retention, and add a revenue stream.' Region-Specific by DesignCarbonSifr places great emphasis on data sovereignty and security, according to Elgun. Built on Meta's open-source LLaMA models and trained in-house, its AI can be deployed on private clouds or even on a client's premises.'This means their data never leaves their ecosystem. Businesses have full visibility and full data sovereignty over what they share with us,' Elgun key strength of CarbonSifr is its deep regional insight. While global platforms often miss regional nuances, CarbonSifr has developed a localised emissions factor database tailored specifically to the district cooling systems to variations in local utility fuel mixes, the platform incorporates real-world data from providers such as DEWA and ADDC to deliver highly contextualised analysis. Hub71: The LaunchpadElgun credits CarbonSifr's rapid growth to Abu Dhabi's tech ecosystem and startup accelerator Hub71, which provided crucial early momentum through mentorship, training, funding, and client introductions. When CarbonSifr joined, it didn't have a finished product yet. What it did have was a clear vision – and Hub71 bet on it.'They gave us access to training, funding support, and most importantly, introductions,' Elgun said. 'Doors that would normally take months to open were opened immediately.'The platform also gave the team visibility at regional events, while connecting them to a community of founders who shared their challenges and helped them solve its launch less than three years ago, CarbonSifr now supports more than 100 brands. To date, it has measured over Dh7 billion worth of purchases and removed over 1,500 tonnes of CO₂ through local nature-based solutions.'Right now, the smartest businesses are realising that climate action is good business,' Elgun argues that treating climate action purely as a CSR initiative limits its impact. However, when it's integrated with core business goals, like driving revenue, reducing costs, or engaging customers, it becomes far more effective and the playbook CarbonSifr is betting on as it expands into the GCC region from the UAE capital. Elgun added that the company plans on deepening its sectoral know-how across sectors that dominate the region's economy, including construction, oil and gas, mobility, tourism, and hospitality. Source: Aletihad - Abu Dhabi
