Four OpenAI researchers have jumped ship to join Meta’s new superintelligence team. Among them are three top minds from OpenAI’s Zurich office and a key player behind OpenAI’s powerful o1 reasoning model.
Yes, Meta is coming for the AI crown.
The Big Names Who Left OpenAI
Mark Zuckerberg personally recruited Lucas Beyer, Alexander Kolesnikov, and Xiaohua Zhai — the trio that helped set up OpenAI’s Zurich team just last year.
Joining them is Trapit Bansal, a major contributor to OpenAI’s o1 model and someone who worked closely with co-founder Ilya Sutskever.
These aren’t small hires. These are core architects of OpenAI’s recent success.
Altman Called It “Fake News” — But The Talent’s Still Leaving
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman claimed last week that Meta was offering $100 million bonuses to poach his top people — but insisted none had accepted.
Turns out that’s not totally true.
Beyer confirmed the move to Meta on X (formerly Twitter), but said the bonus reports were “fake news.” Whether that means no big money changed hands or just not that much, it’s unclear. What is clear? Meta got the talent.
Also Read Mark Zuckerberg Offering Up to Rs 860 Crore Packages to Recruit Top AI Talent: Report
Meta Is Spending Big and Moving Fast
This isn’t Meta’s only high-profile move. The company just invested $15 billion in Scale AI and hired its CEO, Alexandr Wang, to head this new superintelligence effort.
Meta’s message is loud and clear:
We’re all in.
With these recent hires, Meta is pulling from the very heart of its rivals. It’s not just about building AI — it’s about building it with the best minds in the game.
Why This Matters
OpenAI has long been seen as the front-runner in cutting-edge AI research. But with defections like these, the gap might start to close — fast.
Meta’s upcoming work in superintelligence could change the game. This team has the talent, the money, and now the momentum.
The tech world is watching. The first model or system released from this unit will say a lot about where Meta is headed — and how serious they are about overtaking OpenAI.
If you’re keeping score in the AI war, mark this moment. Meta just turned up the heat.
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