AI pioneer Yann LeCun has openly criticized Meta’s decision to appoint Scale AI cofounder Alexandr Wang to lead its newly formed Super Intelligence Lab, warning that more employees may leave the company as a result.
In an interview with the Financial Times, LeCun who stepped down as Meta’s chief AI scientist in November to launch his own startup described the 28-year-old Wang as “inexperienced” when it comes to research leadership.
“He learns fast, and he knows what he doesn’t know,” LeCun said. “But there’s no experience with research or how you practice research what attracts or repels researchers.”
Wang was central to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s aggressive push in the AI talent war. Meta invested $14 billion in Scale AI as part of the deal that brought Wang into the company to head its Super Intelligence Lab.
LeCun said tensions inside Meta intensified after disappointing progress on Llama, the company’s flagship open-source AI model. He claimed that results related to Llama 4 were “fudged,” an episode that reportedly angered Zuckerberg and eroded his trust in the existing AI leadership.
“Mark was really upset and basically lost confidence in everyone involved,” LeCun said, adding that Zuckerberg sidelined much of Meta’s generative AI organization following the controversy.
Although Wang briefly became LeCun’s boss after Meta’s AI reorganization, LeCun said Wang did not meaningfully direct his work. “You don’t tell a researcher what to do—certainly not a researcher like me,” he said.
LeCun also expressed concern that Meta’s new AI leadership is overly focused on large language models (LLMs), which he believes are fundamentally limited.
“LLMs are basically a dead end when it comes to superintelligence,” LeCun said. “I’m not going to change my mind because someone thinks I’m wrong.”
He has long advocated for alternative approaches to AI development, which he plans to pursue through his new startup, reportedly called Advanced Machine Intelligence. LeCun will serve as executive chair rather than CEO.
“I’m a scientist and a visionary,” he said. “But I can’t be a CEO; I’m too disorganized and too old.”
LeCun predicted that Meta’s current direction could lead to further departures among its AI researchers.
