Mark Zuckerberg is going 'startup mode' and doubling down on small talent-dense teams

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has released a version of "Get Low" with the rapper T-Pain.David Zalubowski/ AP ImagesThe gospel of small teams is spreading across Silicon Valley as tech firms look to be nimble.At the forefront is Meta's superintelligence AI unit, which is led by a handful of star researchers.Questions remain over whether smaller, startup-like groups can transform massive tech companies.Mark Zuckerberg is betting big on going small. You might call it going "startup mode."Meta's new superintelligence unit includes a secretive group of hot-shot hires called TBD Lab meant to develop the most advanced artificial intelligence models, a recent internal memo shows.The unit represents a fraction of Meta's total workforce of over 70,000 employees. Many of its members, including its leader, Alexandr Wang, were hired away from buzzy AI startups."I've just gotten a little bit more convinced around the ability for small, talent-dense teams to be the optimal configuration for driving frontier research," Zuckerberg said on Meta's latest earnings call."It's a bit of a different setup," the Meta CEO said of the superintelligence group, contrasting it to the legions of engineers needed to manage powerful algorithms like Facebook's newsfeed.It's not just at Meta. The gospel of small teams is spreading fast across Silicon Valley, which has lean startups in its DNA.From Big Tech to bare-bones upstarts, groups of star workers are pushing the frontier, aided by AI and leaders' desire to cut through bureaucracy.As the small-teams era takes hold following a pandemic-era hiring boom, it remains unclear whether the model will work as well for the big guys as it can for startups.That's not stopping major players from trying.Cutting through red tape to ship fasterIt's not just Big Tech where micro is having a minute.Kashish Gupta, cofounder of Hightouch, a San Francisco AI marketing startup valued earlier this year at $1.2 billion, strongly advocates the small teams approach.Hightouch has raised over $132 million while avoiding massively scaling up its head count, with a total of about 55 engineers, Gupta said.The startup expects engineers to be self-starters who build products without requiring micromanagement from their bosses. For example, a major new AI agent launch has only four engineers working on it."Ultimately, the people prioritizing work are the engineers themselves or the people they work with," Gupta said.Gupta isn't alone in his enthusiasm."Smaller teams are better," reads a manifesto written by Nat Friedman, the investor and former GitHub CEO, on his personal website."Faster decisions, fewer meetings, more fun," Friedman writes, arguing that many tech companies are two to 10 times overstaffed.Meta declined to comment to Business Insider on its management approach. Friedman, who joined Meta's superintelligence effort in June and heads its division integrating AI into products, didn't respond to a request for comment.Zuckerberg has continued to tinker with Meta's org chart and head count over the years, touting that "flatter is better" and "leaner is faster" as part of Meta's 2023 year of efficiency.His latest thesis: In some cases, smaller is better, too.A trend supercharged by AIBreakthroughs in AI have often relied on just a small group of researchers.The basic architecture behind most modern large language models was introduced in the 2017 paper "Attention Is All You Need" —authored by eight researchers, largely from Google. There is also a far smaller pool of AI researchers to hire in the first place.Both factors help explain why Meta has reportedly tried to poach researchers with jaw-dropping, nine-figure compensation packages."Based on my experience, AI advancement really relies on breakthroughs that come from just a few people," Yangshun Tay, an AI engineer, previously told Business Insider."You don't need too many — just a few smart, cream-of-the-crop people to have major breakthroughs and extremely disproportionate impact," he said.Small teams aren't always a magic fixThe big question now is whether these startup-style teams can push a huge tech company like Meta to the cutting edge.Small teams with broad remits can face outsize challenges. One reason is that a group representing a small dot on a sprawling org chart might still be beholden to corporate legal, human resources, and recruiting teams, said Elliott Parker, CEO of Alloy Partners, which helps large corporations create startups.Beyond that, a special unit inside an organization can leave legacy workers feeling like they're stuck on the side that's "not where the stars go," he said.The arrival of a new and lavishly compensated superintelligence unit at Meta has sparked tensions and even resignation threats from some existing researchers, Business Insider previously reported.There might also be challenges related to potential overlap, where multiple small teams end up doing the same thing. Google has compared this issue to "slime mold," while Meta has reorganized its AI division multiple times already — dissolving two units over the last four months alone.Meta's latest reorg might very well do the trick. However, Parker said, it's rare for innovation teams within large companies to truly transform their parent organization.Small teams often deliver useful new products, services, and efficiency gains — just not the "fundamental transformation that corporations are often seeking," he said.Zuckerberg has a sunnier take. In Meta's earnings call last month, he sounded bullish that it's at least the right approach for keeping an edge in the AI race."For the leading research on superintelligence, you really want the smallest group that can hold the whole thing in their head, which drives, I think, some of the physics around the team size and how the dynamics around how that works," he said.Read the original article on Business Insider

Comments

Business News

JD Sports shareholders hoping for progress amid US consumer weakness

Evening Standard

Comments

Similar News

Kumail Nanjiani describes meeting Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg &mdash; and why Musk 'didn't like' the show 'Silicon Valley'

Why does Mark Zuckerberg want our kids to use chatbots? And other unanswered questions.

I went on a trip to mark 20 years of friendship. It reminded me that romantic relationships aren't the only ones worth cherishing.

County's 'secret' festival marks 25th anniversary

Marks & Spencer food sales bounce back as High Street chain recovers from cyber attack

Mark Zuckerberg’s pricey new AI hires — including 28-year-old billionaire Alexandr Wang — are clashing with Meta’s old guard: report

Netflix Is All In On Children’s Programming As It Signs Deal With Mark Rober—Following ‘Ms. Rachel’ Success

US senators press Mark Zuckerberg over Meta allowing AI bots to have ‘sensual’ chats with kids

Vibe-coding startup CEO says Mark Zuckerberg's aggressive hiring spree doesn't hurt his recruitment

Marks & Spencer shoppers says £59 faux suede jacket is the ‘dreamiest coat for autumn

Of course Mark Zuckerberg is still doing good works – he’s just switched up the definition of ‘good’ | Emma Brockes

Mark Cuban says companies should be taxed more for buying back their own shares

AMD CEO Lisa Su says she won't go the Mark Zuckerberg route of using billion-dollar pay packages to snag AI talent

Demi Lovato Misses The Mark With Her Comeback Single

Mark Cuban is lauding Trump for how the POTUS has handled China and Nvidia

From Elon Musk to Mark Zuckerberg, these are the high-profile billionaires who have founded schools

Mark Cuban says the winners of the 2026 midterms are those 'already working' to integrate AI into their campaigns

Marks & Spencer restores click and collect orders after hack

Mark Cuban says the US has got to keep investing in research if it wants to have a chance of beating China at AI

Planning to post a video of your layoff online? You may want to think twice | Gene Marks

Business News

JD Sports shareholders hoping for progress amid US consumer weakness

Nvidia’s rough week on the market may be a sign of trouble for hot stock

Estate Whiskey Alliance Awards Certifications And Research Grants

Delta Finds Loyalty Program Tailwind At Tour Championship

Table Trophies: What Disappearing Fish And Cats Reveal About Us

Charles Leclerc And Team Turn SIDEQUEST From Side Project To Studio

Foot Locker Ended A Four-Decades Old High School Cross Country Race. Here’s Why.

Ozzy Osbourne Fans ContinueTo Mourn Him With ‘No More Tears’

Fed’s Powell Gives Final Jackson Hole Speech Today—Here’s What To Watch For On Interest Rates And More

Carly Simon Earns Her First Top 10 Hit On An American Chart

Deftones’ Nearly Decade-Old Release Finally Becomes A Chart Hit

FBI Raids John Bolton’s Residence, Reports Say

NBA’s New Max-Contract Paradigm Adds Risk To De’Aaron Fox’s $220-Plus Million Extension

TikTok puts hundreds of UK jobs at risk

Wegovy sales spike after maker of rival Mounjaro ramps up UK price

OnlyFans owner paid £522 million in dividends as user numbers soar

TikTok puts hundreds of UK jobs at risk in safety and moderation teams

German economy shrank by 0.3% in second quarter in worse showing than initially thought

World shares are mixed as traders await cues on U.S. monetary policy from Jackson Hole meeting

Lawsuit alleges Edison hid its role in 2019 Sylmar wildfire

L.A. unions push for 'New Deal' ahead of 2028 Olympics

Hamptons hotspots hit block again — this time at steep discounts as East End’s post-COVID boom wanes

Expert tips on asking for a pay rise

Everything you need to know before you get your first credit card

Sudan: Documentation Of Human Rights Violations Must Continue

Why The ATP Tour Is Taking A Sponsorship Away From Tennis Tournaments

The World’s Highest-Paid Tennis Players 2025

Philippine Property Billionaire Manuel Villar’s $24 Billion Conundrum

Musk Tried To Get Meta’s Zuckerberg To Join His Unsolicited $97.4 Billion Bid For OpenAI, Court Filing Says

Tennis Legend Roger Federer Is Now A Billionaire

$39 Cocktails, $90 Million In Prize Money: The 2025 U.S. Open By The Numbers

How An Upstart Apparel Brand Lured Jack Draper Away From Tennis Juggernaut Nike

Blue Jays Say Consistency Reason They Lead The American League East

How Positivity Drove Energy Billionaire Femi Otedola To Making It Big

The Quarry And The Legend: Giants Ridge Delivers Minnesota’s Best Golf Experience

College Football Playoff Simplifies Format For 2025 But Questions Abound For 2026

'Today is payday': Union warns wages for workers at liquidated steel company must be a priority

Viral YouTuber on the path to become one of football's most powerful men

Listing candidate Shawbrook in talks to buy SME lender ThinCats for &#163;180m

What you need to know before you get a credit card

Humanoid Robots Infusing AI For Mental Health Gets Us Walking-Talking Robot Therapists

Consumer confidence at highest point this year - for one reason

I taste-tested 4 supermarket sleep teas and a £1.50 buy sent me straight off

Charlotte Hawkins’ GMB blue floral dress is the perfect wedding guest outfit and it’s on sale

Universal Credit households told to check bank accounts now for surprise payment

Get a free £239 smartwatch when you buy a new Samsung Galaxy phone - here's how

FTSE 100 Live 22 August: Index dips after record close, Federal Reserve speech in focus

Revolution Beauty brings back founders to ‘reset’ troubled beauty brand

Steel workers face ‘huge uncertainty’ after Government takeover – union

6 people are found dead at a Colorado dairy. Authorities suspect an accident involving gas exposure

How MLB's upcoming deals will change how you watch out-of-market, Sunday night and Wild Card games

Matcha madness leaves Japan's tea ceremony pros skeptical

US stocks fall for fifth day in a row ahead of key Fed speech

Shoppers snap up 'amazing' toasted sandwich maker for £1 in major deal

Used EVs become more attractive as prices fall and inventory grows

How to cut rail ticket costs ahead of potential price hikes in 2026

Should I fix my mortgage for 10 years to avoid interest rate shocks? DAVID HOLLINGWORTH replies

Kumail Nanjiani describes meeting Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg — and why Musk 'didn't like' the show 'Silicon Valley'

Listing candidate Shawbrook in talks to buy SME lender ThinCats for £180m