Meta Launches Superintelligence Labs with Top AI Talent

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced the creation of a new artificial intelligence (AI) business unit called Meta Superintelligence Labs. This initiative, revealed to company staff on June 30, will be spearheaded by some of the company’s most recent high-profile hires.

Former Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang and former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman are among those leading the new unit, according to a report by CNBC. Zuckerberg also mentioned that Meta has brought on board 11 other individuals in the past few weeks to join the team.

The Meta Superintelligence Labs will focus on developing the company’s foundation models, product innovation, and the next generation of AI technologies. In an internal memo, Zuckerberg stated, “I’ve spent the past few months meeting top folks across Meta, other AI labs, and promising startups to put together the founding group for this small talent-dense effort. We’re still forming this group and we’ll ask several people across the AI org to join this lab as well.”

This move underscores Meta’s commitment to advancing AI research and development. It follows reports in June that Zuckerberg has been personally recruiting experts for the company’s artificial general intelligence (AGI) team. He has been meeting with AI researchers and engineers at his homes in Lake Tahoe and Palo Alto, California, to build a strong foundation for the new lab.

Zuckerberg’s hands-on approach reflects his renewed focus on AI as a strategic priority for Meta. The CEO has been clear about his vision to make AI a core component of the company’s future. In a recent report, it was noted that Meta is offering significant signing bonuses to attract top talent from other AI companies, including OpenAI, where CEO Sam Altman alleged that Meta is offering $100 million in signing bonuses to poach his workers.

Scale AI, a data-labeling startup, announced on June 12 that it had received a substantial investment from Meta. Alexandr Wang will join Meta while continuing to serve as a director on Scale’s board of directors. Additionally, Meta has been in talks to hire Nat Friedman and Daniel Gross, who are AI investors, and to partially buy out their venture capital fund, NFDG, which has invested in several AI startups.

The formation of Meta Superintelligence Labs is a significant step in the company’s AI ambitions. It aims to accelerate the development of cutting-edge AI technologies and maintain Meta’s competitive edge in the rapidly evolving AI landscape. While Meta did not immediately respond to PYMNTS’ request for comment, the company’s actions speak volumes about its commitment to leading the AI revolution.