As the global AI race reaches a fever pitch, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is reshaping the landscape through an aggressive talent acquisition campaign.
Meta has officially announced the launch of its Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL) — a new division that will serve as the company’s central engine for advancing Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) and Superintelligence.
According to an internal memo, the newly formed lab will be led by former Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang, who will serve as Meta’s Chief AI Officer. He will co-lead the initiative with Nat Friedman, former GitHub CEO, who will focus on AI product development and practical research applications.
Zuckerberg emphasized in the memo:
“AI has reached a critical threshold. Creating superintelligence that surpasses human capability is within reach. I believe this marks a new chapter for human civilization — and Meta will be at the forefront of this transformation.”
Raiding Top Talent from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google DeepMind
While the launch of MSL itself is headline-worthy, it is Meta’s lightning-fast poaching operation that’s making waves in the industry. According to CNBC and The Wall Street Journal, Meta has been luring top-tier AI researchers from rivals including OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google DeepMind — with some signing bonuses reportedly hitting $100 million.
In just the past two weeks, OpenAI has lost eight core researchers to Meta — four of them Chinese scientists who were key contributors to the GPT-4 and o3 models.
Other high-profile recruits include:Jack Rae and Pei Sun from DeepMind,Jiahui Yu, Shuchao Bi, Shengjia Zhao, and Hongyu Ren from OpenAI,and Joel Pobar, former infrastructure lead at Anthropic.
Turmoil Inside OpenAI
The abrupt exodus has triggered unprecedented internal shock at OpenAI. According to Wired, OpenAI Chief Scientist Mark Chen described Meta’s raid as nothing short of “a home invasion” in an internal memo:
“It feels like our front door was pried open and everything valuable was taken. We won’t sit idly by.”
To stabilize morale, OpenAI swiftly implemented a “well-being week” to let employees decompress. Leadership is also overhauling its compensation framework, aiming to retain top talent through enhanced incentives and long-term equity packages.
“We’re recalibrating our salary structure and exploring creative ways to reward excellence within the team,” said Chen, who also warned staff to beware of Meta’s “explosive offers” and short-term temptations.
The New Reality of AI Talent
In today’s AI ecosystem, top minds are increasingly driven not just by academic goals or company missions, but by opportunities to shape the future — and access to massive computational resources. Meta has tapped into this mindset, offering unprecedented pay packages and project autonomy to construct its vision of superintelligence.
Analysts say Meta’s move signals a pivot from simply iterating its Llama models toward a bold attempt to dominate in the AGI era. The launch of MSL is widely expected to accelerate competition and reshape R&D strategies at OpenAI, DeepMind, and Anthropic.