Mark Zuckerberg Sets Ambitious A.I. Hiring Goals to Compete with OpenAI and DeepMind

Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta is aggressively recruiting A.I. talent, employing personalized outreach, lavish bonuses, and strategic pitches. Recently, Meta hired three researchers from OpenAI—Lucas Beyer, Alexander Kolesnikov, and Xiaohua Zhai—who had previously worked at Google DeepMind. Despite Zuckerberg’s poaching efforts, OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman remains unfazed, expressing a casual acceptance of the competition. Meta’s hiring drive has intensified, marked by a $14 billion investment in Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang, leading a new team focused on superintelligence. Zuckerberg’s ambitious plans include up to $72 billion for capital expenditures and personal recruitment efforts. While Meta has pursued other talent from OpenAI and various A.I. startups, including attempts with high signing bonuses, it has not secured top-tier researchers. In response, competing firms like Google and OpenAI are boosting salaries and promotions to retain their talent, intensifying the battle for skilled A.I. professionals.

Source link