Meta Platforms has significantly escalated its AI hiring strategy by appointing Shengjia Zhao, a co-creator of ChatGPT, as Chief Scientist of its newly formed Superintelligence Lab. Zhao was instrumental in developing GPT‑4, several variants like GPT‑4.1 and “o3”, and leading synthetic data efforts at OpenAI
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg introduced Zhao via social media, praising him as a pioneer and confirming he will work closely with Alexandr Wang, Meta’s newly appointed Chief AI Officer and co-founder of Scale AI
Meta’s Aggressive AI Strategy
Zhao’s hiring is part of Meta’s broader initiative to rival OpenAI in frontier AI research and accelerate its push toward artificial general intelligence (AGI) with Superintelligence Lab as the core team. In addition to Zhao, Meta has recruited dozens of top researchers from OpenAI, Anthropic, and DeepMind—including teams from OpenAI’s Zurich office—signaling a significant shift in its talent acquisition strategy
Meta has reportedly offered signing bonuses reaching $80–100 million to attract elite researchers. Meta’s recruitment drive includes high-profile hires like Alexandr Wang, former Scale AI CEO, now leading Superintelligence Labs following a $14–15 billion investment by Meta
OpenAI Pushback
The aggressive recruitment has prompted sharp responses from OpenAI leadership. Chief Research Officer Mark Chen described recruiters’ efforts as “like someone breaking into our home,” while CEO Sam Altman criticized the reliance on mega offers, calling it “crazy” and culturally damaging Business Insider
OpenAI is actively revising compensation packages and exploring new retention strategies to counter the exodus of crucial staff
Industry & Cultural Response
Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis acknowledged Meta’s tactics as a rational catch-up attempt, cautioning that researchers value mission and meaningful work over pure financial incentives
Critics warn that hiring generous compensation may fail to foster research depth and sustained innovation if company culture and mission alignment are neglected
What’s Next
Under Zhao’s leadership, Meta expects early outputs from the Superintelligence Lab by late 2025, including enhanced LLaMA 4.5 models and new agentic reasoning systems. The division aims to build research systems capable of reasoning, autonomy, and scalable intelligence—possibly rivaling GPT-5 and Claude-level models
Key Facts at a Glance
| Aspect | Details |
|---|---|
| New Hire | Shengjia Zhao, co‑creator of ChatGPT and GPT‑4 variants |
| Role | Chief Scientist of Meta Superintelligence Labs |
| Reporting To | Mark Zuckerberg and Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang |
| Talent Acquired | Former OpenAI researchers, Zurich office team, Anthropic and DeepMind alumni |
| Compensation Strategy | Signing bonuses up to $100M; core tenures tied to open-source roadmap |
| OpenAI’s Response | Efforts to retain staff via improved incentives and compensation revisions |
| Risks and Criticism | Cultural misalignment, sustainability concerns, backlash over recruitment tactics |
| Next Milestones Expected | LLaMA 4.5 release, agent-based reasoning modules by late 2025 |
Why It Matters
Meta’s hiring of Shengjia Zhao marks a defining moment in the intensifying battle for AI supremacy. It underscores Meta’s urgency to catch up with OpenAI and DeepMind, not just through infrastructure, but by securing the world’s elite AI talent.
This talent war may redefine how frontier AI research is built—from branded lab structures to compensation strategies—and reshape power dynamics across the industry.
