Meta Platforms recently hired two key AI researchers from Apple, following recruitment of their former boss. This move is part of Meta's aggressive push into AI, with Zuckerberg prioritizing technology and investing heavily to compete with Google.

Meta Platforms Inc. hired a pair of key artificial intelligence researchers who worked at Apple Inc., shortly after poaching their former boss from the iPhone maker. According to persons with knowledge of the situation, the social media behemoth recruited Tom Gunter and Mark Lee to join its Superintelligence Labs team. According to insiders who asked not to be named since the hiring hasn't been made public, Lee started working at Meta after leaving Apple recently, and Gunter will start soon.

The actions are a part of the tech industry's rush for AI skills. Facebook and Instagram's parent company, Meta, has been particularly active in its hiring practices. In an effort to stay ahead of competitors like OpenAI and Google, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has made artificial intelligence the company's top priority and has made significant investments in personnel and data centres.

Both Gunter and Lee collaborated closely with Ruoming Pang, the head of Apple's sizable language modelling team, whom Meta acquired earlier this month. Gunter departed Apple last month, according to a story from Bloomberg News at the time. According to Bloomberg, Meta offered Pang a multiyear salary plan totalling well over $200 million in order to land him.

Related Articles

Meta Keeps At Its AI Hiring Spree As Zuckerberg-Led Company Poaches More AI Talent From Apple, OpenAI
Meta Keeps At Its AI Hiring Spree As Zuckerberg-Led Company Poaches More AI Talent From Apple, OpenAI
Mark Zuckerberg, Meta Investors Settle $8 Billion Lawsuit Over Facebook Privacy Violations
Mark Zuckerberg, Meta Investors Settle $8 Billion Lawsuit Over Facebook Privacy Violations

Gunter, a renowned engineer at Apple, was considered one of the group's most senior personnel, while Lee was recognised as Pang's first hiring. After leaving Apple, Gunter began working at another AI business and left in the last few days.

Meta to invest billions into AI

Zuckerberg said on Threads earlier this week that Meta will "invest hundreds of billions of dollars into compute to build superintelligence," alluding to the idea of a more sophisticated type of AI that is capable of doing jobs more effectively than humans. In order to facilitate cooperation, several of the company's top AI hires have been given desks close to Zuckerberg at the Menlo Park, California, headquarters.