Mark Zuckerberg's AI Push: Meta's "Startup Mode" and the Rise of Superintelligence Labs

Meta is reorganizing its AI division into compact teams to accelerate its superintelligence push. CEO Mark Zuckerberg believes in small, talent-dense teams for frontier research. The company has poached elite engineers from top AI firms, including Alexandr Wang from Scale AI, which Meta acquired for $14 billion. Meta is offering nine-figure compensation packages to attract top talent from rivals.

Meta (NASDAQ: META) is reorganizing its artificial intelligence division, focusing on compact, high-impact teams to accelerate its superintelligence push. CEO Mark Zuckerberg believes in the effectiveness of small, talent-dense teams for frontier research. The company has poached elite engineers from top AI firms, including Alexandr Wang from Scale AI, which Meta acquired for $14 billion [1].

Meta's new unit, TBD Lab, is headed by Alexandr Wang and comprises elite engineers from leading AI startups. The shift reflects a broader Silicon Valley trend towards lean operations. Kashish Gupta, co-founder of Hightouch, a San Francisco AI startup valued at $1.2 billion, noted that his company relies on about 55 engineers, with major AI agent launches developed by just four people [1].

Meta has intensified its recruitment strategy, offering nine-figure compensation packages to attract top talent from rivals such as OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Anthropic. Investor Nat Friedman, now leading Meta's Products and Applied Research group, echoed this sentiment in a manifesto on his website, emphasizing the advantages of smaller teams for faster decisions and fewer meetings [1].

However, this strategy has created friction, with some longtime employees feeling sidelined. The arrival of a lavishly funded unit has led to reports of resignation threats and discontent across Meta's broader AI staff [1].

While compact groups have historically driven innovation, experts question whether this model will scale inside massive corporations like Meta. Elliott Parker, CEO of Alloy Partners, suggested that small teams within conglomerates often deliver useful products and efficiency gains but rarely "transform their parent organization" [1].

Meta has already reorganized its AI units several times in recent months, dissolving two divisions to remove overlaps. Despite this turbulence, Zuckerberg remains optimistic, stating that "for the leading research on superintelligence, you really want the smallest group that can hold the whole thing in their head" [1].

References:
[1] https://finance.yahoo.com/news/mark-zuckerberg-bets-billions-startup-010008654.html