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

Yann LeCun to depart Meta and launch AI startup focused on 'world models'

nasdaq.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 680 posts

Re: Yann LeCun to depart Meta and launch AI startup focused on 'world models'

#101

Post by amelius »

rw2 wrote: post #73
throwaw12 wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would pose a question differently, under his leadership did Meta achieve good outcome? If the answer is yes, then better to keep him, because he has already proved himself and you can win in the long-term. With Meta's pockets, you can always create a new department specifically for short-term projects. If the answer is no, then nothing to discuss here.

I believe that the fact that Chinese models are beating the crap of of Llama means it's a huge no.

Why? The Chinese are very capable. Most DL papers have at least one Chinese name on it. That doesn't mean they are Chinese but it's telling.

Re: Yann LeCun to depart Meta and launch AI startup focused on 'world models'

#102

Post by tonii141 »

NitpickLawyer wrote: post #39
killerstorm wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

LeCun always said that LLMs do not lead to AGI.

He also said other things about LLMs that turned out to be either wrong or easily bypassed with some glue. While I understand where he comes from, and that his stance is pure research-y theory driven, at the end of the day his positions were wrong. Previously, he very publicly and strongly said: a) LLMs can't do math. They trick us in poetry but that's subjective. They can't do objective math. b) they can't plan c) b…

a) Still true: vanilla LLMs can’t do math, they pattern-match unless you bolt on tools.

b) Still true: next-token prediction isn’t planning.

c) Still true: error accumulation is mitigated, not eliminated. Long-context quality still relies on retrieval, checks, and verifiers.

Yann’s claims were about LLMs as LLMs. With tooling, you can work around limits, but the core point stands.

Re: Yann LeCun to depart Meta and launch AI startup focused on 'world models'

#103

Post by nolok »

jb1991 wrote: post #98
dude250711 wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is someone else at Facebook who's pet projects do not get results...

Who are you referring to?

I think he means Zuckerberg himself, the metaverse isn't exactly a major success, but this is a false equivalency the way he organized it only his vote matters he does what he wants

Re: Yann LeCun to depart Meta and launch AI startup focused on 'world models'

#104

Post by ergocoder »

sebmellen wrote: post #2

Making LeCun report to Wang was the most boneheaded move imaginable. But… I suppose Zuckerberg knows what he wants, which is AI slopware and not truly groundbreaking foundation models.

LeCun is great and smart, of course. But he had his chance. It didn't go that well. Now Zuck wants somebody else to try.

Messi is the best footballer of our era. It doesn't mean he would play well in any team.

Re: Yann LeCun to depart Meta and launch AI startup focused on 'world models'

#105

Post by jb1991 »

1zael wrote: post #7

"These models aim to replicate human reasoning and understanding of the physical world, a project LeCun has said could take a decade to mature." What an insane time horizon to define success. I suppose he easily can raise enough capital for that kind of runway.

10 years is nothing.

Re: Yann LeCun to depart Meta and launch AI startup focused on 'world models'

#106

Post by [deleted] »

throwaw12 wrote: post #72
xuancanh wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In industry research, someone in a chief position like LeCun should know how to balance long-term research with short-term projects. However, for whatever reason, he consistently shows hostility toward LLMs and engineering projects, even though Llama and PyTorch are two of the most influential projects from Meta AI. His attitude doesn’t really match what is expected from a Chief position at a product company like Fac…

I would pose a question differently, under his leadership did Meta achieve good outcome? If the answer is yes, then better to keep him, because he has already proved himself and you can win in the long-term. With Meta's pockets, you can always create a new department specifically for short-term projects. If the answer is no, then nothing to discuss here.

[deleted]

Re: Yann LeCun to depart Meta and launch AI startup focused on 'world models'

#107

Post by ergocoder »

dude250711 wrote: post #87
ACCount37 wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That was obviously him getting sidelined. And it's easy to see why. LLMs get results. None of the Yann LeCun's pet projects do. He had ample time to prove that his approach is promising, and he didn't.

There is someone else at Facebook who's pet projects do not get results...

If you hire a house cleaner to clean your house, and the cleaner didn't do well, would you eject yourself out of the house? You would not. You would change to a new cleaner.

Re: Yann LeCun to depart Meta and launch AI startup focused on 'world models'

#108

Post by UrineSqueegee »

amelius wrote: post #101
rw2 wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe that the fact that Chinese models are beating the crap of of Llama means it's a huge no.

Why? The Chinese are very capable. Most DL papers have at least one Chinese name on it. That doesn't mean they are Chinese but it's telling.

is an american model chinese because chinese people were in the team?

Re: Yann LeCun to depart Meta and launch AI startup focused on 'world models'

#109

Post by jb1991 »

yanhangyhy wrote: post #19

What the hell does Mark see in Wang? Wang was born into a family whose parents got Chinese government scholarships to study abroad but secretly stayed in the US, and then the guy turns super anti-China. From any angle, this dude just doesn't seem reliable at all.

If I had the opportunity to secretly stay anywhere rather than go back to China, I would certainly take it. It’s a bold and smart move.

Re: Yann LeCun to depart Meta and launch AI startup focused on 'world models'

#110

Post by [deleted] »

camillomiller wrote: post #93
ACCount37 wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That was obviously him getting sidelined. And it's easy to see why. LLMs get results. None of the Yann LeCun's pet projects do. He had ample time to prove that his approach is promising, and he didn't.

LLMs get results is quite the bold statement. If they get results, they should be getting adopted, and they should be making money. This is all built on hazy promises. If you had marketable results, you wouldn't have to hide 20+ billion dollars of debt financing into an obscure SPV. LLMs are the most baffling piece of tech. They are incredible, and yet marred by their non-deterministic hallucinatory nature, and bound…

[deleted]
Post reply on HN