Recently, Horace He, a core developer of PyTorch, announced his departure from Meta to join Thinking Machines, a startup founded by Mira Murati, former CTO of OpenAI. Horace He spent four years at Meta, significantly contributing to PyTorch's development. This departure shocked the industry and sparked discussions about the future of AI.
In his farewell blog post from Meta, Horace detailed his reasons for leaving. He emphasized his enjoyable and fulfilling experience at PyTorch, stating he never felt bored. However, after careful consideration, he realized it was time for a new challenge, particularly within a startup capable of influencing the direction of AI development. He expressed excitement about joining Thinking Machines, believing the platform will allow him to further impact and advance AI infrastructure.
Horace He believes that over the past four years, PyTorch has not only contributed to his personal growth but has also profoundly impacted the machine learning community. He noted that PyTorch, as an open-source framework, has become the industry's "common language," widely used in research and development at many top AI labs. Statistics show that 59% of research papers utilize PyTorch, highlighting its significant position in academia and industry.
Horace He's departure is considered a significant loss for Meta. PyTorch founder Soumith Chintala highly praised his contributions, stating his efforts in advancing PyTorch will be remembered in history. In deciding to join Thinking Machines, Horace considered his passion for machine learning and his desire to improve overall efficiency through infrastructure enhancements.
Horace He's departure marks the end of an era while simultaneously ushering in a new chapter for his journey. His decision is not only a turning point in his personal career but also a strategic choice for the future development of AI.