Meta Appoints ChatGPT Co-Creator Shengjia Zhao as Chief Scientist to Lead ASI Lab

Meta Platforms Inc. has named Shengjia Zhao, a co-creator of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, as chief scientist of its newly launched Meta Superintelligence Labs, marking a significant escalation in the tech giant’s efforts to dominate the artificial superintelligence (ASI) landscape. CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the hire on July 25, 2025, describing Zhao as a “leader in the field” whose expertise in foundational AI architectures and synthetic data will drive the lab’s mission to advance Meta’s ASI roadmap [1][2][3]. Zhao’s appointment follows a series of strategic hires, including former Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang, who now serves as Meta’s chief AI officer, and reflects the company’s aggressive push to counter rivals like OpenAI and Google [3].

Zhao’s transition from OpenAI to Meta underscores the intensifying competition for top AI talent. As a key figure in ChatGPT’s development, Zhao brings deep experience in large language models (LLMs) and scaling paradigms, areas where Meta has faced criticism for lagging behind. His role as a co-founder of the Superintelligence Lab, as clarified by Zuckerberg, positions him to lead core research alongside product development, with a focus on open-source models like Llama while integrating proprietary advancements [1][3]. The lab, established in June 2025, consolidates Meta’s AI ambitions under one umbrella, signaling a shift toward centralized innovation amid recent challenges, including lukewarm industry reception of the Llama 4 “Behemoth” model [2].

The hiring surge has sparked debate over Meta’s recruitment tactics. Reports suggest the company has offered compensation packages worth up to $100 million to OpenAI employees, a claim denied by Meta spokesperson Andy Stone, who called the figures “untrue” and “misrepresented.” While Meta confirmed salary ranges—$850,000 for senior engineers and $1.54 million for E7-level staff—the reported bonuses and equity grants have intensified scrutiny [2]. A senior OpenAI researcher, speaking anonymously, noted the offers were “substantial” but emphasized that many colleagues prioritized project influence at OpenAI over financial incentives. Anthropic co-founder Benjamin Mann acknowledged the allure of such packages but stressed that his team’s mission-driven culture has retained talent, contrasting with companies losing staff to “big paydays” [3].

Zuckerberg’s strategy extends beyond personnel. The company has committed $14 billion to Scale AI and pledged hundreds of billions for ASI infrastructure, including “tent-style” data centers and energy-efficient “titan clusters” to power high-compute tasks. A planned Ohio facility, codenamed “Prometheus,” aims to operationalize by 2026, reflecting Meta’s focus on scaling computational resources [2]. These investments align with industry trends prioritizing hardware and data infrastructure as critical differentiators in the ASI race, though critics argue such spending risks destabilizing the ecosystem by siphoning talent from foundational research.

The appointment highlights the high-stakes nature of the AI sector, where talent and infrastructure are increasingly seen as commodities. While Meta’s approach has drawn ethical concerns—OpenAI’s leaked internal memo described the recruitment as a “visceral violation”—Zuckerberg remains undeterred. His vision, as outlined in a June memo, emphasizes direct collaboration with Zhao and Wang to “advance his scientific vision,” underscoring a leadership model centered on rapid execution and resource consolidation [1][3]. Whether this strategy will translate into technical breakthroughs or further fragment the AI landscape remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: the battle for dominance in ASI is entering a new phase, defined by unprecedented financial stakes and ideological divides.

Source: [1] [Reuters] [https://www.reuters.com/business/meta-names-chatgpt-co-creator-chief-scientist-superintelligence-lab-2025-07-25/]; [2] [Mitrade] [https://www.mitrade.com/insights/news/live-news/article-3-988905-20250726]; [3] [The Economic Times] [https://m.economictimes.com/news/international/us/meta-names-former-openai-researcher-shengjia-zhao-as-chief-scientist-for-superintelligence-lab/articleshow/122913202.cms]