Kristina Roberts
Big changes are happening in the world of artificial intelligence (AI). Meta, the company led by Mark Zuckerberg, has recently hired three top scientists from another AI company called OpenAI. These scientists—Lucas Beyer, Alexander Kolesnikov, and Xiaohua Zhai—were working in OpenAI’s office in Zurich before they decided to join Meta. This move is a big deal because it shows how serious Meta is about becoming a leader in AI.
Just a few days before this happened, Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, said that Meta was trying to take away some of his team members by offering them very big rewards. He said that some of his staff were being offered bonuses worth up to 100 million dollars. That’s a huge amount of money and shows how much companies are willing to pay to get the best minds in AI.
OpenAI has confirmed that the three scientists have left the company, although they didn’t give more details about why they left or what they would be doing next. Meta hasn’t said much about it either. But the timing of all this has made people wonder what Meta is really planning.
Meta was once known for making free, open-source AI tools that others could use. But lately, they’ve had some problems. Some of their top workers left, and they delayed the launch of new AI models. These problems made it harder for Meta to compete with other big companies like Google and OpenAI. A new company from China called DeepSeek is also becoming a strong player in the AI field.
Sam Altman even said, “I’ve heard that Meta thinks of us as their biggest competitor.” This shows that there’s a strong rivalry between these two tech giants. Each of them wants to be the first to create the most advanced AI system, and they are doing everything they can to win.
To make things even more intense, Meta recently brought in another powerful person—Alexandr Wang, the 28-year-old CEO of Scale AI. Meta bought a large part of his company for more than 14 billion dollars. Now Wang is joining the “superintelligence” project at Meta, which is what Zuckerberg is calling this new mission to build a kind of AI that can think and learn like a human. This kind of AI is known as AGI, or artificial general intelligence.
Mark Zuckerberg is doing everything he can to make this dream come true. Reports say he is personally trying to hire the smartest people in AI. He invites them to special dinners, offers them very high pay, and gives them big bonuses to join Meta. He wants to create a small team of around 50 experts who will focus only on developing superintelligent AI. He’s also making sure they have all the money, tools, and computers they need to do their work.
Still, not everyone is ready to jump on board. Some scientists are a little worried about joining Meta, even with the big pay offers. They say that Meta’s recent AI projects haven’t gone smoothly. One example is when people started questioning the accuracy of a leaderboard that showed which AI models were the best. Even Meta’s own head AI scientist, Yann LeCun, has shared doubts about whether the current way of training AI will really lead to success.
Meanwhile, OpenAI is not sitting back. They are doing their best to keep their top employees from leaving. Sam Altman has said that even though three people left, none of his highest-level workers have gone to Meta. He said OpenAI is also offering extra bonuses and better roles to make sure their team stays strong. He didn’t seem too worried and joked, saying, “It’s like OK, Zuckerberg is doing some new insane thing. What’s next?”
This entire situation shows how fast the world of AI is moving. The race to build the best AI is heating up, and big companies are spending a lot of money to win. Each of them wants to be the first to create AGI, which could completely change how we use computers. AGI would be able to think, learn, and make decisions just like a human. It’s a big goal, and no one has done it yet, but everyone wants to be the first.
Mark Zuckerberg has made it clear that he wants Meta to lead the way. He believes that building AGI can help Meta in many ways, like improving virtual assistants, making better ads, and creating chat tools that feel like you’re talking to a real person. He is determined to bring together the best minds and the best tools to make this happen.
To do this, he is going beyond just hiring people. He is also talking directly with top scientists, bringing them to private dinners, and offering to buy parts of their companies. He wants them to feel that Meta is serious and that they will be supported in every way. But some people think Meta may be rushing too fast and wonder if this strategy will work in the long run.
In the end, it’s clear that a big battle for talent is happening behind the scenes. Meta, OpenAI, and other companies are trying hard to find and keep the smartest people in AI. With so much money, brainpower, and effort being poured into this space, it’s only a matter of time before we see what these superintelligent teams can really do. For now, all eyes are on Meta and how far Mark Zuckerberg will go to make his AI dreams come true.
