Meta Forces 6,500 Engineers into AI Data Labor Amidst Internal Outcry

06/13 03:50

According to monitoring by Beating, during an internal live-streamed meeting at Meta attended by thousands, an engineer suddenly erupted in profanity, accusing the AI department of making them 'the company's bitch' and demanding to convey to executives that 'they are a piece of shit.' This unexpected outburst left the speaker embarrassed and the live chat flooded with comments. In response to the accumulated grievances from the restructuring, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg issued an apology memo on June 12, promising to make changes. The AI department, established in March this year, consists of about 6,500 engineers who were forcibly reassigned with only the options to accept or resign, humorously referred to as 'conscription.' Originally responsible for social applications, these engineers are now compelled to create two unsolvable model problems each week under strict monitoring, with no traces online, and conduct edge testing. The monotonous and mechanical nature of the labeling work has led engineers to feel underutilized, describing their roles as akin to a 'Gulag' concentration camp. The practice of using high-paid engineers for labeling originated from Meta's Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang. In an April meeting, Zuckerberg mentioned that Wang believes Meta employees are far more intelligent than outsourced workers and that they are more efficient at data labeling. Ironically, after Meta's acquisition of Scale AI last year, the new head was shocked by the forced data labeling for R&D and immediately halted it. With Alexandr Wang taking charge of Meta's lab, the abandoned model has been revived on a larger scale, even leading to the paralysis of some security teams due to personnel being forcibly reassigned. In addition to forced reassignment, Meta has also implemented key monitoring within the company to generate AI data, prompting over 1,600 employees to sign a protest. Meta's Chief Product Officer Chris Cox admitted in an internal meeting that the recent environment is extremely harsh, describing the employee situation as 'running a marathon in hail, suddenly your teammate is swapped out, and the company is also recording you. What the fuck is this?' In the face of the crisis, Zuckerberg promised in the memo to limit the number of direct reports for managers and reiterated that there would be no large layoffs this year. He stated that the AI department is merely a temporary transfer station, and opportunities will be provided for affected employees to be reassigned to more valuable positions.

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