Meta has appointed Robert Fergus, previously a research director at Google DeepMind, to lead its Fundamental AI Research (FAIR) lab. Fergus co-founded FAIR in 2014 and succeeds Joelle Pineau. The FAIR lab focuses on creating advanced robotics models, generating audio, and pushing the boundaries of AI capabilities, including early AI models like Llama 1 and Llama 2.

According to a report by Bloomberg, Fergus will head the FAIR lab at Meta. The unit is responsible for AI research within the company.

Before joining Google DeepMind, where he was a research director for five years, Fergus worked with Meta as a research scientist. Chief Product Officer Chris Cox informed Meta employees that Fergus has joined FAIR labs, succeeding Joelle Pineau, who announced her departure plans last month.

Fergus stated on LinkedIn, "We’re working towards building human-level experiences that transform the way we interact with technology and are dedicated to leading and advancing AI research.”

According to a report from Fortune, FAIR led research on the company’s early AI models, including Llama 1 and Llama 2. However, many researchers have reportedly left FAIR for other startups, companies, and even Meta’s newer GenAI group, which spearheaded the development of Llama 4.