In a recent announcement from Menlo Park, California, the leading figure of Meta’s artificial intelligence research division has declared her decision to step down. Joelle Pineau, who occupies the role of vice president for AI research at Meta, expressed her intentions to leave by the end of May, after contributing to the company for eight years.
Pineau contextualized her decision within the larger landscape of transformations, noting the rapid advancement of AI and Meta’s journey into its forthcoming phase. “As the race for AI accelerates and the world undergoes significant change, it is time to create space for others to pursue the work,” she shared through a social media post.
Meta, which owns major platforms like Facebook and Instagram, has yet to comment on Pineau’s departure with no official successor announced at this time.
Stationed in Montreal, Pineau also holds a position at McGill University as a computer science professor. Her work at Meta was significant for promoting an “open-source” methodology in AI development. This approach led to the creation of key projects such as Llama, a large language model where core components are made accessible for public use and modification.
This announcement is concurrent with Meta’s preparations to launch the inaugural LlamaCon AI conference on April 29, highlighting ongoing innovations and ideas in the field.
Pineau took over the reins of Meta’s AI research division in 2023. This division, initially established a decade ago under the name Facebook AI Research, was co-founded by notable AI scientist Yann LeCun. Though LeCun stepped down from his directorial role in 2018, he continues to play a pivotal role as Meta’s chief AI scientist.