Apple's AI Chief Ruoming Pang Joins Meta With Tens-Of-Millions Compensation Package

Ruoming Pang, AI model lead at Apple, is leaving to join Meta with a compensation package valued at tens of millions of dollars annually. Meta also hired Yuanzhi Li from OpenAI and Anton Bakhtin from Claude at Anthropic PBC. The move escalates Meta's suprintelligence efforts and follows the hiring of Scale AI's Alexandr Wang and others. Apple shares slipped 0.46% after hours, while Meta shares edged up 0.014%.

Apple's top executive in charge of artificial intelligence models, Ruoming Pang, is leaving the company to join Meta Platforms, according to multiple reports. Pang, who led Apple's foundation models team, is expected to join Meta's new superintelligence team under the leadership of Alexandr Wang, the former CEO of Scale AI [1][2][3][4]. Pang's departure comes as Meta aggressively pursues high-profile acquisitions and offers multi-million-dollar pay packages to attract top talent in the AI field.

Meta's hiring spree continues, with the company also announcing the hiring of Yuanzhi Li from OpenAI and Anton Bakhtin from Anthropic PBC [2]. These moves follow the recent appointment of Alexandr Wang as the Chief AI Officer of Meta's Superintelligence Labs, which aims to develop Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) [5]. The new lab is part of Meta's broader strategy to compete with other tech giants in the AI space.

Apple shares slipped 0.46% after hours following the announcement, while Meta shares edged up 0.014% [2]. The departure of Pang, who was central to Apple's plans for a next-gen Siri experience, marks another setback for the company's in-house AI efforts [2]. However, Apple has named Zhifeng Chen to lead the Apple foundation models team, indicating a shift in management structure [2].

Meta's aggressive pursuit of AI talent is part of a broader trend in the tech industry, where companies are increasingly investing in AI to stay competitive. The company's new superintelligence labs aim to accelerate AGI development and monetize Meta AI through commercial tools and APIs [5]. Meta's continued high-margin business in advertising provides the financial runway to fund these ambitious AI initiatives.

Investors and financial professionals should keep an eye on Meta's upcoming quarterly results to assess the potential financial impact of its AI ambitions. The company's ability to fund high-stakes innovation and translate AGI into tangible financial returns will be key indicators of success [5].

References:
[1] Reuters. (2025). Apple's top AI executive Ruoming Pang is leaving for Meta. Retrieved from https://finance.yahoo.com/news/apples-top-ai-executive-ruoming-224044121.html
[2] 9to5Mac. (2025). Meta just hired Apple’s head of foundation models. Retrieved from https://9to5mac.com/2025/07/07/meta-just-hired-apples-head-of-foundation-models/
[3] Bloomberg Law. (2025). Apple loses top AI models executive to Meta’s hiring spree. Retrieved from https://news.bloomberglaw.com/artificial-intelligence/apple-loses-top-ai-models-executive-to-metas-hiring-spree-1
[4] AI Magazine. (2025). Alexandr Wang joins Meta to lead superintelligence efforts. Retrieved from https://aimagazine.com/articles/alexandr-wang
[5] Financial Modeling Prep. (2025). Meta launches superintelligence labs under new chief AI officer Alexandr Wang. Retrieved from https://site.financialmodelingprep.com/market-news/meta-launches-superintelligence-labs-under-new-chief-ai-officer-alexandr-wang