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points by esseph 11 hours ago | 0 comments

It's not a distraction if the research pans out and then they become the market leader for the next several years or more.

[–] siva7 10 hours ago

The job of the CEO is to assess the research risk correctly. Zuck made the right bet here to replace him.

[–] hvb2 9 hours ago

The guy that named his company after his own diversion?

It's his call for sure, but rather funny as an argument.

[–] hikarudo 8 hours ago

The fact that someone made a mistake before doesn't mean that they will always make wrong calls.

[–] ImPostingOnHN 7 hours ago

not as a matter of certainty, but it certainly increases the bayesian prior probability of their calls being wrong

[–] thelastgallon 8 hours ago

Maybe he is keeping the name as a constant reminder of the mistaken. Like Berkshire Hathaway: Warren Buffett says Berkshire Hathaway is the “dumbest” stock he ever bought. https://www.cnbc.com/2010/10/18/warren-buffett-buying-berksh...

[–] shadowpho 10 hours ago

Ok yeah but it’s not a certain bet. Resources are limited and you gotta allocate them efficiently.

10% chance to be market leader doesn’t sound as good as 60% second place to them for example

[–] esseph 10 hours ago

This is a prime example of why large companies have a problem innovating.

Once you get close to the top, the risks don't look worth it.

[–] geertj 7 hours ago

> It's not a distraction if the research pans out

It is because even if it would pan out, it would mean temporarily losing AI leadership, reducing stock price, losing the ability to hire talent, and by virtue of that losing the opportunity permanently.