This article first appeared on GuruFocus.

Meta (META, Financials) just slammed the brakeshardon its AI hiring spree; but no, it’s not giving up on artificial intelligence. It’s just hitting pause after one hell of a shopping run.

• Warning! GuruFocus has detected 5 Warning Sign with META.

• Is META fairly valued? Test your thesis with our free DCF calculator.

This week, the company confirmed it’s freezing AI recruitment, telling anyone who asked that it’s just organizational planning. Translation? We’ve spent a fortune; now we need to figure out what the heck to do with all the people we just hired.

Behind the scenes, the company is reshuffling its deck. Meta has split its AI operations into four distinct teams: a product team, an infrastructure unit, a long-term research group, and one mysterious new outfit called the TBD Lab. That one’s in charge of building superintelligenceas in AI that’s smarter than people. No pressure.

All four now fall under the freshly minted Meta Superintelligence Labs. Yes, that’s the real name; yes, it sounds like a Marvel villain’s headquarters.

If you’ve been following Meta’s AI push, this pause may not be surprising. The company has been writing blank checks all year. Reports say it offered nine-figure bonuses to poach AI researchers; the crown jewel came when it shelled out $14.3 billion for a 49% stake in Scale AIbringing on founder Alexandr Wang to lead the company’s Llama language model program.

That’s not spendingit’s empire-building.

But now the empire needs a moment to sort itself out. The pause comes during a volatile week for tech stocks and right after OpenAI’s Sam Altman suggested we might already be in an AI bubble. Meta hasn’t said it agrees; but it’s clearly aware that even Zuckerberg’s ambition needs structure.

Some analysts say this isn’t retreatit’s digestion. You can’t just hire a dozen geniuses, throw them in a room, and expect to get Skynet by next quarter. You need to line things up, delegate, and give people space to build.

Others think this might be the beginning of a more cautious phase; Meta’s AI plans aren’t going away, but the company knows it can’t just spend forever without showing real product wins.

Meta insists the mission hasn’t changed; it still wants to be the AI heavyweight champion. But after tossing out billion-dollar deals like candy at a parade, even Zuck knows it’s time to slow down, breathe, and make sure the engine is firing in the right direction.