Meta, which owns and operates Facebook and Instagram—as well as Threads, Messenger, and WhatsApp—announced on Wednesday it is laying off about 600 employees from its new AI “superintelligence” research lab. The news was first reported by Axios.

Fast Company has reached out to Meta for comment.

That lab, dedicated to pursuing an artificial intelligence system that would reportedly surpass human intelligence, was announced back in June after Meta said it was investing $14.3 billion in Alexandr Wang’s Scale AI and bringing him on board.

The cuts come as Big Tech ramps up its investment in artificial intelligence, pouring billions in an increasingly competitive, high-stakes AI arms race. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says the social technology company plans to invest between $60 billion and $65

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