Veteran AI scientist Yann LeCun, one of the so-called godfathers of modern artificial intelligence, has spoken candidly about what he disliked most during his 12-year stint at Meta: management.
In an interview with MIT Technology Review, LeCun said that while he was capable of managing teams, he never enjoyed it. “I can do management, but I don’t like doing it,” he said. “I kind of hated being a director. I am not good at this career management thing. I’m much more visionary and a scientist.”
LeCun, 65, is a Turing Award winner and the founder of Meta’s influential Fundamental AI Research (FAIR) lab. He announced his departure from Meta in November 2025.
After leaving Meta, LeCun launched his own AI startup, AMI Labs, based in Paris. The company will focus on building “world models” — AI systems that learn from video and spatial data rather than relying primarily on text.
At AMI Labs, LeCun will serve as executive chairman, while former Meta colleague Alex LeBrun takes on the role of CEO. The structure is intentional, allowing LeCun to avoid the administrative responsibilities he has long disliked. “This is not my mission in life,” he said, adding that his goal is to push science and technology forward.
LeCun also suggested that his departure was influenced by growing differences with Meta’s AI strategy. The company’s heavy investment in large language models (LLMs) conflicted with his long-held belief that such systems are ultimately limited.
He has repeatedly described LLMs as “a dead end when it comes to superintelligence,” a position that became increasingly uncomfortable as Meta doubled down on them. Tensions reportedly deepened after Meta invested $14.3 billion in Scale AI and appointed its 28-year-old CEO Alexandr Wang to oversee AI development, briefly making him LeCun’s superior.
“You don’t tell a researcher what to do,” LeCun later told the Financial Times. “You certainly don’t tell a researcher like me what to do.”
Despite leaving Meta, LeCun will continue teaching at New York University, a condition he insisted on when Mark Zuckerberg first recruited him to Facebook in 2013. His comments offer a rare glimpse into the tension between scientific independence and corporate priorities in the AI industry.
