Overview

• Meta invested $14.3 billion in Scale AI to secure its founder Alexandr Wang and brought on Nat Friedman to co-lead the newly formed Superintelligence Labs under Mark Zuckerberg’s July 1 organization memo.
• The division has confirmed hires of at least 11 senior researchers from OpenAI, Anthropic and Google DeepMind to staff its push toward advanced AI models.
• Reports indicate compensation offers for top recruits may reach up to $300 million over four years, though Meta spokesman Andy Stone has described those figures as exaggerated.
• OpenAI CEO Sam Altman labeled Meta’s recruitment tactics “distasteful,” emphasized mission over money and announced a companywide review of researcher pay to retain talent.
• Analysts warn that the escalating talent war is redefining pay norms in Silicon Valley and intensifying the scramble for a limited pool of AI experts.