Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Mark Zuckerberg freezes AI hiring amid bubble fears

telegraph.co.uk

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

241–250 of 936 posts

Re: Mark Zuckerberg freezes AI hiring amid bubble fears

#241

Post by JKCalhoun »

abxyz wrote: post #82
onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really don't understand this massive flip flopping. Do I have this timeline correct? * January, announce massive $65B AI spend * June, buy Scale AI for ~$15B, massive AI hiring spree, reportedly paying millions per year for low-level AI devs * July, announce some of the biggest data centers ever that will cost billions and use all of Ohio's water (hyperbolic) * Aug, freeze, it's a bubble! Someone please tell me I'v…

The bubble narrative is coming from the outside. More likely is that the /acquisition/ of Scale has led to an abundance of talent that is being underutilised. If you give managers the option to hire, they will. Freezing hiring while reorganising is a sane strategy regardless of how well you are or are not doing.

Better strategy of course is to quietly freeze hiring. Perhaps that is not an option for a publicly traded company though.

Re: Mark Zuckerberg freezes AI hiring amid bubble fears

#242

Post by saubeidl »

torginus wrote: post #228
alsetmusic wrote: post #191

It almost seems as though the record-setting bonuses they were dolling out to hire the top minds in AI might have been a little shortsighted. A couple of years ago, I asked a financial investment person about AI as a trick question. She did well by recommending investing in companies that invest in AI (like MS) but who had other profitable businesses (like Azure). I was waiting for her to put her foot in her mouth an…

It boggles the mind that this kind of management is what it takes to create one of the most valuable companies in the world (and becoming one of the world's richest in the process).

It all makes much more sense when you start to realize that capitalism is a casino in which the already rich have a lot more chips to bet and meritocracy is a comforting lie.

Re: Mark Zuckerberg freezes AI hiring amid bubble fears

#243

Post by jocaal »

torginus wrote: post #228
alsetmusic wrote: post #191

It almost seems as though the record-setting bonuses they were dolling out to hire the top minds in AI might have been a little shortsighted. A couple of years ago, I asked a financial investment person about AI as a trick question. She did well by recommending investing in companies that invest in AI (like MS) but who had other profitable businesses (like Azure). I was waiting for her to put her foot in her mouth an…

It boggles the mind that this kind of management is what it takes to create one of the most valuable companies in the world (and becoming one of the world's richest in the process).

Past a certain point, skill doesn't contribute to the magnitude of success and it becomes all luck. There are plenty of smart people on earth, but there can only be 1 founder of facebook.

Re: Mark Zuckerberg freezes AI hiring amid bubble fears

#244

Post by JKCalhoun »

butlike wrote: post #202
onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really don't understand this massive flip flopping. Do I have this timeline correct? * January, announce massive $65B AI spend * June, buy Scale AI for ~$15B, massive AI hiring spree, reportedly paying millions per year for low-level AI devs * July, announce some of the biggest data centers ever that will cost billions and use all of Ohio's water (hyperbolic) * Aug, freeze, it's a bubble! Someone please tell me I'v…

The scale they operate at makes the billions, bucks. As a board member, I'd rather see a billion-dollar bubble test than a trillion-dollar mistake.

True, and after having just leaned heavy into the "metaverse" I expect they're twice shy now.

Re: Mark Zuckerberg freezes AI hiring amid bubble fears

#245

Post by rchaud »

morkalork wrote: post #152

Really feels like it went from "AI is going to destroy everyone's jobs forever" to "whoops bubble" in about 6 weeks.

Makes sense. Previously the hype was so all-encompassing that CEOs could simply rely on an implicit public perception that it was coming for our jerbs. Once they have to start explicitly saying that line themselves, it's because that perception is fading.

Re: Mark Zuckerberg freezes AI hiring amid bubble fears

#246

Post by ahi »

krona wrote: post #153
TrackerFF wrote: post #53

I really do wonder if any of those rock star $100m++ hires managed to get a 9-figure sign-on bonus, or if the majority have year(s) long performance clauses. Imagine being paid generational wealth, and then the house of cards comes crashing down a couple of months later.

Taking rockstar players 'off the pitch' is the best way second-rate competitors can neutralize their opponents' advantage.

Patrick Boyle on youtube has a good explanation of what's going on in the industry: https://youtu.be/3ef5IPpncsg?feature=shared

tl;dw: some of it is anti-trust avoidance and some of it is knee-capping competitors.

Re: Mark Zuckerberg freezes AI hiring amid bubble fears

#247

Post by yifanl »

abxyz wrote: post #82
onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really don't understand this massive flip flopping. Do I have this timeline correct? * January, announce massive $65B AI spend * June, buy Scale AI for ~$15B, massive AI hiring spree, reportedly paying millions per year for low-level AI devs * July, announce some of the biggest data centers ever that will cost billions and use all of Ohio's water (hyperbolic) * Aug, freeze, it's a bubble! Someone please tell me I'v…

The bubble narrative is coming from the outside. More likely is that the /acquisition/ of Scale has led to an abundance of talent that is being underutilised. If you give managers the option to hire, they will. Freezing hiring while reorganising is a sane strategy regardless of how well you are or are not doing.

The bubble narrative has been ongoing for a while, but as I understand it, the extremely disappointing response to GPT-5 has spilled things over.

Re: Mark Zuckerberg freezes AI hiring amid bubble fears

#249

Post by morkalork »

moduspol wrote: post #236
morkalork wrote: post #152

Really feels like it went from "AI is going to destroy everyone's jobs forever" to "whoops bubble" in about 6 weeks.

Even that came after "AI is going to make itself smarter so fast that it's inevitably going to kill us all and must be regulated" talk ended. Remember when that was the big issue? Haven't heard about that in a while.

I've seen a few people convince themselves they were building AGI trying to do that, though it looked more like the psychotic ramblings of someone entering a manic episode committed to github. And so far none of their pet projects have taken over the world yet.

It's actually kind of reminds me of all those people who snap thinking they've solved P=NP and start spamming their "proofs" everywhere.

Re: Mark Zuckerberg freezes AI hiring amid bubble fears

#250

Post by JKCalhoun »

butlike wrote: post #211
Andrex wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1 breakthrough per 99 bubbles would make anyone cautious. The rule should be to assume a bubble is happening by default until proven otherwise by time.

That's actually how you create a death spiral for your company. You have to assume 'growth' and not 'death'. 'life' over 'lost'. 'flourishing' over 'withering'. That you're strong enough to survive.

Apple has seemingly done well waiting until they see a clear consumer direction (and woefully underserved tech there).
Post reply on HN