Meta Platforms chief AI scientist Yann LeCun leaving for startup

Meta Platforms Inc chief artificial intelligence researcher Yann LeCun on Wednesday confirmed he is departing the social media and technology firm to focus on a startup seeking a breakthrough in machine intelligence.

"As many of you have heard through rumors or recent media articles, I am planning to leave Meta after 12 years," LeCun said in a post on his Facebook page.

"I am creating a startup company to continue the Advanced Machine Intelligence research program (AMI) I have been pursuing over the last several years with colleagues."

The 65-year-old French engineer said the goal of the startup is to bring about "the next big revolution in AI" with systems that understand the physical world and can reason as well as plan actions.

A breakthrough in that area could pave the way for more capable AI-powered machines, such as robots that adapt to situations for which they are not programmed.

Meta will be a partner of the new company, according to LeCun.

LeCun spent 12 years leading the Facebook Artificial Intelligence Research lab at Meta, where Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg has made the quest for "superintelligence" a priority.

Zuckerberg this year embarked on a major recruitment campaign to acquire talent for the tech titan's AI efforts, poaching Scale AI Inc co-founder Alexandr Wang and putting him in charge of a newly formed unit called Superintelligence Labs.

LeCun was placed under Alexandr Wang's supervision in the unit, which was part of a strategic overhaul of Meta's approach to AI.