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Meta Weighs Rival AI Models as Superintelligence Lab Faces Turbulence

A hiring pause with quick exits signals a recalibration of Meta’s AI push.

WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 18: CEO of Scale A.I. Alexandr Wang testifies during a House Armed Services Subcommittee on Cyber, Information Technologies and Innovation hearing about artificial intelligence on Capitol Hill July 18, 2023 in Washington, DC. The hearing focused on barriers that prevent the Department of Defense from adopting and deploying A.I. effectively and the risks from adversarial A.I. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
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Meta did poach several employees from rivals, but a lot of people are leaving, too.

Overview

  • Leaders have discussed temporarily integrating Google’s Gemini or OpenAI models into Meta AI while advancing the next in‑house system, according to The Information reporting relayed by Reuters.
  • An internal memo shows Meta temporarily paused most hiring at Meta Superintelligence Labs to plan 2026 headcount as the division is reorganized around research, product, and infrastructure.
  • Recent churn includes short‑tenure departures and no‑shows such as Ethan Knight and Avi Verma, plus exits by veterans including Chaya Nayak, with Meta calling the attrition normal for a group of its size.
  • Shengjia Zhao was named chief AI scientist after joining, and Meta says he had led the initiative from the outset, following reports that he considered returning to OpenAI.
  • After an underwhelming Llama 4 rollout, insiders told Business Insider the team is racing to ship Llama 4.X this year as Meta continues a multibillion‑dollar push that includes its roughly $14.3 billion Scale AI deal.