Meta Accelerates AI Ambitions with Star-Studded Superintelligence Labs Team
Meta Platforms, parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is doubling down on artificial intelligence by launching its Superintelligence Labs and poaching top AI talent from leading firms like OpenAI, Apple, and Google. The move aims to help Meta close the gap with AI powerhouses such as OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Anthropic.
The aggressive hiring campaign comes after Meta faced criticism over the underwhelming reception of its Llama 4 model and internal AI leadership departures. The formation of the new AI unit also highlights Mark Zuckerberg’s renewed commitment to winning the AI arms race.
Meta’s Superintelligence Labs: A Strategic Shift Toward Unified AI Development
Meta’s new Superintelligence Labs will focus on developing next-generation AI models, applied research, and AI-powered products that span the company’s platforms. As competition intensifies, Meta is betting big on elite talent to deliver breakthroughs and reclaim its position in the AI hierarchy.
According to Reuters and Bloomberg, Meta’s hiring spree includes multi-million-dollar compensation offers, with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman previously stating that Meta offered up to $100 million in bonuses to lure his employees.
Key Hires at Meta’s Superintelligence Labs
ALEXANDR WANG – Chief AI Officer
Former Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang now leads Meta’s Superintelligence Labs. Wang brings deep expertise in data labeling and infrastructure, Scale AI’s core strengths, and is expected to reshape Meta’s model development strategy.
- Past Role: CEO, Scale AI
- Notable: Meta has invested over $14.3 billion in Scale AI
- Current Role: Chief AI Officer, Meta Superintelligence Labs
NAT FRIEDMAN – Co-Lead of Superintelligence Labs
Former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman will co-lead the lab with Wang and oversee AI product innovation and applied research. Friedman previously co-founded VC firm NFDG, which backed prominent AI startups like Safe Superintelligence and Perplexity AI.
- Past Roles: CEO, GitHub | Co-founder, NFDG
- Focus: AI applications, product development, innovation pipeline
DANIEL GROSS – Head of AI Products Division
Daniel Gross, former CEO of Safe Superintelligence, has joined Meta to lead the AI products division. His deep ties with Friedman and work at NFDG suggest a tight-knit leadership core driving the new unit.
- Notable: Co-founded Safe Superintelligence with Ilya Sutskever
RUOMING PANG – Former Apple AI Leader
Ruoming Pang, formerly head of Apple’s Foundation Models team, is among the highest-profile hires. At Apple, Pang oversaw the company’s advanced AI initiatives. His move to Meta reportedly came with a multi-million-dollar compensation package.
- Past Role: Head of Foundation Models, Apple
- Current Role: Senior leadership, Meta Superintelligence Labs
TRAPIT BANSAL – O-Series Model Expert
Trapit Bansal, who joined OpenAI in 2022, contributed to the development of its O-series reasoning models, which are widely seen as OpenAI’s next frontier in long-context understanding and reasoning.
- Past Work: Collaborated with Ilya Sutskever on frontier AI models
SHUCHAO BI – Ads and Short-Form Video Specialist
Shuchao Bi joined Meta after working for YouTube and Google for over a decade. He co-founded YouTube Shorts and helped develop multi-stage deep learning systems for optimising Google Ads performance.
- AI Specialities: Video content, deep learning, monetisation systems
Meta’s AI War Chest and Growing Industry Pressure
Meta’s aggressive hiring reflects a broader trend: Silicon Valley’s AI talent war is intensifying. With OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Anthropic dominating the narrative, Meta’s recruitment push signals an urgent need to regain competitive ground.
Despite investing billions in LLM research, Meta’s Llama 4 received lukewarm feedback, allowing rivals to claim AI mindshare. This new elite AI team, backed by Meta’s vast compute and data infrastructure, could help close the innovation gap.
