Facebook owner Meta is cutting 600 jobs in its artificial intelligence division, a move United States media reported Wednesday is intended to streamline operations following a period of aggressive hiring.

According to reports in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and other publications, the job cuts will not affect the TBD Lab, an operation established by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

That particular lab’s staffing was quickly grown through the poaching of top researchers with expensive pay packages from rivals such as OpenAI and Apple.

Instead, the job cuts will target teams focused on AI products and infrastructure, aiming to boost efficiency without sacrificing work on the company’s most ambitious ventures.

A Wall Street Journal report indicated that many of the affected workers could be deployed elsewhere by the company.

The New York Times described the cuts as specifically aimed at addressing “organizational bloat” following the aggressive hiring spree used to build up the AI program.

Both newspapers quoted a memo from Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang confirming the streamlining efforts, stating that the job cuts mean “fewer conversations will be required to make a decision.” Meta did not respond to an AFP query on the matter.