From Hyderabad to Meta: The End of an Era
After an incredible eleven-year journey, Soumith Chintala, the brilliant mind behind PyTorch, has announced his departure from Meta. The Indian-born AI expert made his exit official through an emotional post on X last week, marking the end of a significant chapter in both his career and the world of artificial intelligence.
Chintala revealed that his decision stemmed from not wanting to be "doing PyTorch forever," feeling that the timing was perfect for a transition after returning from extended leave. His last day at the tech giant was November 17th, closing a professional chapter that spanned nearly his entire career.
The PyTorch Legacy
Chintala's contribution to the AI world cannot be overstated. As the co-creator of PyTorch, he spent almost eight years leading the project, transforming it from nothing to achieving over 90% adoption in artificial intelligence applications worldwide. PyTorch stands as an open-source deep learning framework that has become essential for developers and researchers building AI models.
In his farewell message, Chintala expressed the emotional difficulty of his decision: "Walking away from this was one of the hardest things I've ever done. But I'm leaving with a full heart." He reflected on loving every aspect of building PyTorch—from designing and managing it to handling multiple roles including product management, technical leadership, and even documentation engineering.
An Unlikely Journey to Silicon Valley
Chintala's path to becoming Meta's "AI fixer" was anything but straightforward. Born and raised in Hyderabad, he attended Hyderabad Public School where he initially struggled with mathematics. Despite these academic challenges, his fascination with computers and problem-solving led him to pursue information technology at Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), a tier-2 engineering college.
His attempts to move to the United States faced significant obstacles. After scoring 1420 on the GRE, Chintala faced rejection from twelve universities before eventually securing admission to New York University for a Master's in Computer Science. He arrived in the US on a J-1 visa with what he described as "no plan."
At NYU, his career took a pivotal turn when he joined Yann LeCun's lab, working on early deep-learning projects including pedestrian detection and optical character recognition. This experience laid the foundation for his future achievements in artificial intelligence.
Building a Remarkable Career
Before joining Meta in 2014 as a software engineer, Chintala gained valuable experience working as a test engineer at Amazon and later at startup MuseAmi, where he focused on mobile deep-learning applications. His dedication and expertise eventually earned him a position at Facebook AI Research (FAIR), which later became part of Meta AI.
Chintala's professional achievements were formally recognized when he obtained a US green card through the EB-1 category reserved for "aliens of extraordinary ability," a testament to his significant contributions to the field of artificial intelligence.
While Chintala hasn't revealed his future plans, his journey from a Hyderabad engineering college to becoming a Vice President at Meta serves as powerful inspiration for countless Indian tech enthusiasts dreaming of making their mark in Silicon Valley. His story demonstrates that perseverance, passion, and talent can overcome even the most challenging obstacles.
