Meta Platforms’ head of artificial intelligence research, Joelle Pineau, has announced her departure from the company after eight years, creating a significant vacancy as the tech giant aggressively invests in the AI space.
Pineau, who has served as vice president of AI research and led Meta’s Fundamental AI Research group (FAIR) since 2023, announced her plans to leave in a LinkedIn post on Tuesday. Her last day will be 30 May.
“Today, as the world undergoes significant change, as the race for AI accelerates, and as Meta prepares for its next chapter, it is time to create space for others to pursue the work,” Pineau wrote in her announcement.
During her tenure, Pineau oversaw the development of numerous projects that have been integrated into Meta’s products, including the open-source Llama family of AI models, PyTorch software for AI developers, and other technologies like FAISS, Roberta, Dino, SAM, Codegen and Audiobox.
The departure comes at a challenging time for Meta, as chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg has made AI the company’s top priority. Zuckerberg has committed up to $65 billion on AI-related projects this year as the company competes with rivals like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Elon Musk’s xAI.
“We thank Joelle for her leadership of FAIR,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement. “She’s been an important voice for Open Source and helped push breakthroughs to advance our products and the science behind them.”
Based in Montreal, where she also serves as a computer science professor at McGill University, Pineau has been a prominent advocate for Meta’s “open-source” approach to building AI systems, in which core components are publicly released for others to use or modify.
Meta does not yet have a replacement for Pineau but is conducting a search for her successor, according to a company spokesperson. The announcement comes just weeks before Meta’s debut LlamaCon AI conference on 29 April, where the company is expected to unveil its latest Llama 4 model.
Pineau did not reveal her next role but indicated she “will be taking some time to observe and to reflect, before jumping into a new adventure.”
Last year, Meta reorganised its AI teams to position Pineau and FAIR closer to the product division, aiming to accelerate the implementation of research into Meta’s various products. The company maintains that it remains committed to AI research and that its plans haven’t changed following Pineau’s departure.
