Meta’s Recruiting Blitz

Meta has scored a significant win in the battle for top AI talent, hiring three researchers from OpenAI. The new recruits, Lucas Beyer, Alexander Kolesnikov, and Xiaohua Zhai, will join Meta’s superintelligence team, according to reports. This move is seen as a victory for Mark Zuckerberg’s recruiting blitz, which has been widely reported.

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, had publicly mocked Zuckerberg’s lavish hiring tactics, including offering $100+ million compensation packages to lure top talent. However, it appears that Zuckerberg’s methods are producing results, with the latest hires being a significant coup for Meta.

Zuckerberg has been personally involved in the recruiting process, using WhatsApp to contact hundreds of top AI researchers and hosting dinners at his homes in Palo Alto and Lake Tahoe. While the strategy has had mixed results, with some big targets eluding the Meta CEO, the hiring of the three OpenAI researchers is a significant win.