Meta's AI Empire Grows — Fueled By OpenAI, DeepMind, Apple Defectors

Meta Platforms Inc META is aggressively expanding its AI dominance through its Superintelligence Labs (MSL), launched in June 2025 to pursue artificial general intelligence (AGI). Led by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, MSL consolidates Meta's Llama models and FAIR (Fundamental Artificial Intelligence Research) research to deliver "personal superintelligence."

Fueling this ambition, Meta has poached top talent from OpenAI, Anthropic, Alphabet Inc‘s GOOGL GOOG Google DeepMind, and Apple Inc AAPL, reshaping the AI landscape in a fierce talent war.

Talent Heist: Building An AI Dream Team

From OpenAI, Meta recruited seven researchers, including Trapit Bansal and Shuchao Bi, experts in large language models and reinforcement learning. Google DeepMind lost Jack Rae, a machine learning pioneer, and Huiwen Chang, an image generation specialist.

Related: Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta Lures Away Apple AI Chief Ruoming Pang With Tens-Of-Millions Compensation Package: Report

Apple's Ruoming Pang, former head of its Foundation Models team behind Genmoji and Siri upgrades, joined MSL with a reported multimillion-dollar package. These defections bolster MSL's expertise in multimodal AI and reasoning systems. Meta also hired from Anthropic, including Anton Bakhtin, a Claude developer, and inference expert Joel Pobar, enhancing its technical depth.

Led by Alexandr Wang, ex-Scale AI CEO, and Nat Friedman, former GitHub CEO, MSL is backed by Meta's $14.3 billion investment in Scale AI for superior data resources. While Meta denied claims of $100 million signing bonuses, competitive compensation has drawn elite talent.

Powering AGI: Meta's Strategic Hires

MSL aims to integrate advanced AI into Meta's platforms, such as Instagram and Smart Glasses, leveraging its billion-user reach. However, AGI's technical and ethical challenges raise doubts, with critics recalling Meta's metaverse struggles.

By luring defectors from OpenAI, DeepMind and Apple, Meta is building a formidable AI empire. The success of MSL hinges on this talent's ability to deliver groundbreaking innovations in a competitive field, positioning Meta as a serious contender in the AGI race.

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