'Suffocating' control? Meta’s AI star reportedly says Zuckerberg’s 'micromanagement' is slowing everything

The new leadership has abandoned Meta’s earlier frontier model, Behemoth, after delayed release and weak performance in tests

Cracks have emerged at the top of Meta Platforms’ artificial intelligence push, with Scale AI founder Alexandr Wang privately expressing concerns about CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s control over the effort, the Financial Times reported, citing multiple people familiar with the matter.

The tensions raise questions over how Meta will execute its high-stakes AI strategy, just months after it agreed to take a 49 percent stake in Scale AI for about Rs 1.2 trillion and installed Wang as the public face of its “superintelligence” lab.

According to the Financial Times, Wang believes Zuckerberg’s micromanagement of Meta’s AI drive is “suffocating” progress. He has told associates that tight oversight is slowing decision-making and execution, the report said.

The paper added that the friction has been building for some time and has now reached the executive level, even as Zuckerberg backs the AI push with nine-figure compensation packages to attract researchers from rival firms.

The report said some Meta employees privately question whether Wang is out of his depth in a large corporate environment, citing his limited experience running teams at scale. Others note that his expertise lies in AI data services rather than frontier AI research.

These concerns come as Meta restructures its AI operations, increasing pressure on leadership choices and organisational design.

Wang’s arrival has also sparked a strategic clash. His superintelligence team is pushing to make Meta’s next flagship AI model “closed”, keeping its technology proprietary, the Financial Times reported.

That would mark a sharp departure from Meta’s longstanding commitment to open-sourcing its models, a shift that has unsettled some senior executives who helped shape the company’s earlier AI approach.

The new leadership has abandoned Meta’s earlier frontier model, Behemoth, after delayed release and weak performance in tests, according to the report. Meta has since split its AI division into four groups focused on research, superintelligence development, products and infrastructure.

As the new structure takes shape, senior exits have followed. The Financial Times reported that Meta’s longtime chief legal officer Jennifer Newstead has been poached by Apple, while chief revenue officer John Hegeman has announced plans to leave to start his own company.