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Meta Poaches Apple AI Chief Ruoming Pang for Superintelligence Labs

This move underscores Meta’s strategy to outmuscle rivals for AI expertise, following Apple’s reshuffle of its foundation models group under Zhifeng Chen.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg makes a keynote speech during the Meta Connect annual event, at the company's headquarters in Menlo Park, California, U.S. September 25, 2024. REUTERS/Manuel Orbegozo/File Photo
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People walk past an Apple logo at an Apple store in Paris, France, April 23, 2025. REUTERS/Abdul Saboor/ File Photo

Overview

  • Ruoming Pang, who led Apple’s roughly 100-member foundation models team, has accepted a Meta offer worth tens of millions of dollars per year to join its Superintelligence Labs.
  • Meta has also hired OpenAI researcher Yuanzhi Li and Anthropic veteran Anton Bakhtin as part of its ongoing talent-acquisition push.
  • Apple’s 100-member foundation models team now reports to multiple managers under Zhifeng Chen instead of directly to its former lead.
  • Morale within Apple’s AI division has reportedly dipped, and several engineers are considering departures following the leadership changes.
  • Meta has committed tens of billions of dollars in 2025 to AI infrastructure and research as it races toward next-generation superintelligence.