Mark Zuckerberg wants you to keep using Instagram and Facebook. Meta has reportedly formed a team of elite AI researchers tasked with keeping users glued to its social media platforms.
As per a report from Business Insider, Meta has reorganised its recommendations team. The new unit is called MRS Research, which will be working on the recommendation system that determines what you see on your feed on Instagram and Facebook.
Meta was recently found guilty, alongside YouTube, in a landmark case on teenage social media addiction. The Mark Zuckerberg-led firm was instructed to pay 70 per cent of $3 million in compensatory damages.
What will Meta’s AI elite team do?
The MRS Research team is led by former TikTok executive Yang Song. Song joined Meta in November last year. The report states that Song will oversee the deployment of AI tech into ways to enhance user engagement across the company’s platforms.
As per a job listing, MRS Research is said to focus on long-term AI research goals. The team is also tasked to advance Meta’s recommendation engine.
MRS Research works closely with Meta’s ads division to improve ad performance by serving users more relevant ads. The company launched an AI model in late 2025 that increased ad effectiveness by tailoring content to individual preferences.
The formation of MRS Research followed an internal restructuring within Meta’s Recommendation Systems division last October, which now brings top AI talent under one roof.
Do note that this team is separate from Meta’s Superintelligence Labs (MSL), led by Alexandr Wang, that is working on Meta’s future AI models.
Since its inception, MRS Research has attracted talent from leading technology firms, including former researchers from OpenAI, Google, and Amazon. Notable hires include AI experts Xiaolong Wang and Fei Sha, as well as Amazon AI researcher Lihong Li.
Meta is going all-in on AI
The MRS Research division appears to be part of Meta’s broader AI strategy. The company has instructed its employees to use more AI tools at work. Mark Zuckerberg himself is believed to be using an AI CEO agent to do his tasks, something that has raised fears of even CEOs being replaced in the future.
Meta recently acquired Moltbook, an AI social media platform where humans are banned from posting. The company stated that the Moltbook team will be part of MSL and work on building agentic AI. Previously, the Zuckerberg-led firm has also acquired AI startup Manus AI.
The company has also hired the founding team of another AI startup Dreamer.
At the same time, Meta is rumoured to be planning for a massive round of layoffs that could impact over 15,000 workers. Earlier this month, the company fired 700 workers. Though it has also increased incentives for top executives who can each earn an extra $900 million if the company hits a $9 trillion valuation.
