Meta’s AI Ambitions Hit Turbulence Amid Reports of Internal Conflict
Tensions are rising at Meta as Mark Zuckerberg reportedly clashes with new AI head Alexandr Wang. Following a $14 billion deal, internal friction and executive departures are threatening the company's aggressive push into artificial general intelligence.
Mark Zuckerberg and Alexandr Wang
Recent reports indicate significant friction between Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his high-profile AI recruit, Alexandr Wang, threatening to derail the company's aggressive pivot toward artificial general intelligence.
High-Stakes Hiring and Investment In a bid to revitalize Meta’s artificial intelligence capabilities, Zuckerberg executed a massive strategic move in [June 2025]. The company invested over $14 billion into data annotation startup Scale AI, simultaneously hiring its founder, Alexandr Wang, to lead a new division dubbed "Superintelligence Labs." This acquisition was intended to position Meta as a direct competitor to industry leaders like Google and OpenAI, with Wang tasked to spearhead the development of models capable of rivaling human intelligence.
Growing Tensions at the Top Despite the initial fanfare, the relationship appears to be deteriorating rapidly. According to reporting by the Financial Times, the 28-year-old Wang has expressed frustration to associates regarding Zuckerberg’s "suffocating" micromanagement. Conversely, internal skepticism is mounting regarding Wang's suitability for the role, with some staff questioning whether he possesses the necessary experience to manage such a colossal engineering effort.
Executive Departures and Strategic Clashes The turmoil has already led to significant leadership changes. In [November 2025], Meta’s longtime Chief AI Scientist, Yann LeCun, departed the company. LeCun, a pioneer in the field of deep learning, reportedly refused to report to Wang and disagreed with the company's shift toward large language models (LLMs), a technology he has previously criticized.
Further complicating matters, reports from the New York Times in [December 2025] highlight strategic disagreements between Wang and Chris Cox, Meta’s Chief Product Officer. While Cox advocated for utilizing data from Facebook and Instagram to train new models, Wang pushed to focus on catching up to competitors' capabilities, creating a rift in the company's unified vision.
Market Reaction Investors have reacted nervously to the instability and ballooning costs. When Meta announced billions in additional AI spending in [October 2025], the company’s stock plunged 11%, erasing over $200 billion in market capitalization. As pressure mounts to deliver a return on these massive investments, the stability of the partnership between Zuckerberg and Wang remains a critical question for the company’s future.
