Joelle Pineau is leaving at a challenging time for Meta as it invests billions of dollars to become the market leader ahead of rivals like OpenAI and Google.

Joelle Pineau said she would step down effective May 30, creating an executive vacancy as the company aggressively invests and competes in the booming sector.

The head of Meta’s artificial intelligence research division said she plans to step down, vacating a high-profile position at the parent company of Facebook and Instagram at a time of intense competition in the development of AI technology.