The world of artificial intelligence is witnessing a significant shift as Meta Platforms continues to poach top talent from industry giants, including Apple. The latest recruit comes in the form of two senior AI researchers, Mark Lee and Tom Gunter, who have joined Meta’s Superintelligence Labs team.
Lee has already started working at Meta’s Menlo Park campus, while Gunter is set to join shortly. This move comes hot on the heels of Apple’s head of AI models, Ruoming Pang, who was lured away with a whopping pay package of over $200 million. The two researchers had worked closely with Pang at Apple, and their departure is a significant blow to the company’s AI division.
Meta’s hiring spree is part of a broader campaign to build its AI capabilities. In June, the company invested a staggering $14.3 billion to acquire a 49% stake in data-labeling startup Scale AI, bringing its founder and CEO, Alexandr Wang, onboard as Meta’s chief AI officer. Wang will co-lead the Superintelligence Labs team alongside former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman.
Under Wang’s leadership, Meta has poached researchers from top labs, including OpenAI, Google DeepMind, Anthropic, and Apple. Key recruits include Daniel Gross, ex-Safe Superintelligence CEO; Ruoming Pang, former head of Apple’s Foundation Models team; and several architects of large-scale language models such as Huiwen Chang and Ji Lin. The hiring spree is a testament to Meta’s commitment to building its AI capabilities and staying ahead of the competition.
But what does this mean for the future of AI? As Meta continues to build its Superintelligence Labs team, it’s clear that the company is positioning itself as a major player in the AI landscape. With its vast resources and commitment to innovation, Meta is well-equipped to drive forward the development of AI technologies. Whether this will lead to significant breakthroughs or new applications remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: the AI landscape is about to get a whole lot more interesting.
In related news, Apple Intelligence, Apple’s own AI software built into iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks, was launched in June 2024. The technology gives the iPhone a more context-aware Siri, alongside features such as writing tools, summarizing tools, generative tools for emojis and images, and ‘Clean Up’ tools with AI erase. As the AI arms race continues, it will be fascinating to see how these technologies evolve and shape our future.
Originally published on https://www.oneindia.com/artificial-intelligence/first-the-boss-now-the-team-meta-snatches-away-two-apple-ai-researchers-011-7804899.html
