Meta's forced AI labeling reassignment drove top engineers to rivals

Between March and June 2026, Meta reassigned approximately 6,500 engineers and product managers to a new data labeling unit called Applied AI, accounting for 30–50% of staff on some core teams. These were senior employees previously responsible for building and running Meta's critical infrastructure, now tasked with creating coding puzzles and performing RLHF grunt work. Engineers described the experience as 'soul-crushing,' with some calling the unit a 'gulag,' and CTO Andrew Bosworth privately acknowledged that morale was among the worst in the company's 20-year history. Top talent began interviewing elsewhere and departed for competitors including Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google. Meta responded with retention grants exceeding $1 million for senior engineers, but multiple employees declined the offers and left regardless.