Ex-Meta AI Researcher Slams ‘Culture of Fear’, Calls Company Environment ‘Metastatic Cancer’
A former Meta AI researcher has sharply criticized the company’s internal culture, comparing it to a “metastatic cancer” in a scathing farewell email. Tijmen Blankevoort, who worked on Meta’s LLaMA models, issued a dire warning about what he described as a toxic, fear-driven work environment that is spreading across the organization.
In an internal note viewed by The Information, Blankevoort said Meta’s AI division is plagued by confusion, dysfunction, and low morale, despite the company’s high-profile push to dominate the artificial intelligence race. “We are in a culture of fear,” he wrote, attributing the problem to frequent performance reviews, internal politics, and waves of layoffs, which have severely impacted employee creativity and motivation.
Blankevoort described the workplace atmosphere as emotionally draining. “Most do not enjoy being here. And they don’t even know what our mission is,” he added. He accused leadership of failing to provide a clear vision, leaving many within the 2,000-strong AI team feeling lost and directionless.
The critique comes at a time when Meta is aggressively ramping up its AI ambitions to catch up with rivals like OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Anthropic. The company recently launched Superintelligence Labs, a new unit tasked with building artificial general intelligence (AGI). In doing so, Meta has been on a hiring spree, luring top talent from across the industry with multi-million-dollar offers.
Just this week, Bloomberg reported that Ruoming Pang, the former head of Apple’s Foundation Models team, is joining Meta to help build smarter AI systems. He joins other major hires like Yuanzhi Li and Anton Bakhtin, formerly of OpenAI and Google, respectively.
However, the rapid hiring and compensation tactics have stirred controversy. OpenAI Chief Researcher Mark Chen likened Meta’s recruiting to “breaking into our home and stealing something,” while CEO Sam Altman alleged that Meta offered signing bonuses as high as $100 million to lure away key staff. Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth denied these claims, insisting such figures are limited to a few top-level roles.
Blankevoort’s farewell essay, though, suggests that money and talent alone won’t solve the company’s deeper structural issues. According to The Information, his message has sparked internal reflection, highlighting how even the most ambitious projects can be derailed by toxic work environments and unclear leadership.
As Meta doubles down on AI and aims for AGI, the bigger challenge may lie within: rebuilding trust, morale, and mission clarity in a team that seems to be fraying under pressure.
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