Meta Hires Former Apple Engineers, Boosts AI Talent War with Big Paychecks

Meta Platforms has intensified its AI talent war by hiring two former Apple engineers, Mark Lee and Tom Gunter, for its Superintelligence Labs team. The hires come after Meta poached their former boss, Ruoming Pang, with a multiyear pay package reportedly worth over $200 million. Meta has also recruited seven researchers from OpenAI and hired other AI experts with generous compensation packages. The company is aggressively expanding its superintelligence unit and rethinking its AI strategy, potentially adopting a closed system instead of its open-source Behemoth model.

Meta Platforms (META.O) has recently intensified its AI talent acquisition strategy by hiring two former Apple engineers, Mark Lee and Tom Gunter, for its Superintelligence Labs team. This move follows Meta's earlier recruitment of Ruoming Pang, the former head of Apple's Foundation Models team, who received a $200 million compensation package [3]. The hires underscore Meta's aggressive approach to building a competitive edge in the AI sector.

Mark Lee and Tom Gunter, who previously worked closely with Pang at Apple, will join Meta's Superintelligence Labs team. This team is led by Alexandr Wang and aims to develop artificial general intelligence (AGI) and surpass human intelligence. The addition of Lee and Gunter underscores Meta's commitment to attracting top talent and consolidating its AI efforts under a unified strategy [1].

Meta's aggressive recruitment campaign is part of a broader strategy to build a "superintelligence" team focused on AI systems that can perform tasks as well as or better than humans. The company has been investing heavily in its AI infrastructure, planning to spend hundreds of billions of dollars to build multi-gigawatt data center clusters like Prometheus and Hyperion [2].

The hiring spree at Meta is not without its implications. Apple, which has seen its AI division weakened by these high-profile departures, is now facing increased competition in the AI sector. Apple reported Q1 2025 revenue of $95.4 billion, up 5% year-over-year, with services revenue reaching an all-time high of $26.6 billion, growing 12% compared to the prior year [4]. Despite Apple's strong performance in services, the loss of key AI talent to Meta could impact its future AI initiatives.

Meta's stock has already seen a 24% increase year-to-date, and the addition of Pang to Zuckerberg's "AI Avengers" may further boost investor confidence in the company's AI ambitions. The company's ongoing push into AI is already showing positive results, with user behavior across its key platforms demonstrating increased time spent and higher ad prices [3].

Meta has also been recruiting top AI talent from OpenAI. Jason Wei and Hyung Won Chung, prominent AI researchers from OpenAI, are joining Meta’s superalignment team [3]. Meta has been offering compensation packages worth up to $300 million over four years, with more than $100 million paid out in the first year alone [2]. The packages include stock grants that vest immediately and are primarily targeted at leadership roles within Meta's newly formed superintelligence team.

Meta's aggressive recruitment strategy is part of a broader rethinking of its AI strategy, potentially adopting a closed system instead of its open-source Behemoth model. The company is investing heavily in its AI infrastructure and talent to lead the next AI epoch and generate returns through various products, including the Meta AI assistant, ad tools, and AI-powered smart glasses.

References:
[1] https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/meta-hires-two-apple-ai-researchers-superintelligence-push-bloomberg-news-2025-07-18/
[2] https://www.ainvest.com/news/meta-platforms-recruits-apple-ai-researchers-ongoing-competition-tech-industry-2507/
[3] https://www.ainvest.com/news/meta-recruits-apple-ai-head-ruoming-pang-200m-boosting-stock-2507/
[4] https://thedesk.net/2025/07/netflix-q2-2025-earnings-report/