Meta Splashes $200 Million To Secure Top Apple AI Expert In Talent War

In a seismic move that underscores the fierce competition for artificial intelligence talent, Meta has orchestrated a staggering £200 million compensation package to secure former Apple engineer Ruoming Pang for its ambitious “superintelligence” team.

The social media giant’s aggressive recruitment strategy encompasses lucrative base salaries, substantial signing bonuses, and Meta shares, marking a significant escalation in the ongoing AI talent arms race. Pang, who previously helmed Apple’s AI models team, joins Meta’s Superintelligence Labs as the company intensifies its efforts to outpace rivals OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic.

Meta’s strategic positioning follows disappointments with its Llama 4 language models released in April, which failed to meet performance benchmarks. The company’s recent acquisition of a 49% stake in Scale AI, coupled with the recruitment of its co-founder Alexandr Wang to spearhead AI initiatives, signals a determined push to strengthen its AI capabilities.

The recruitment landscape has grown increasingly competitive, with tech firms offering premiums up to £150,000 for machine learning expertise. According to J Thelander Consulting’s analysis of 153 companies, data scientists and analysts with machine learning proficiency command higher premiums than their software engineering counterparts.

OpenAI’s chief executive Sam Altman revealed Meta’s aggressive recruitment tactics, disclosing £75 million bonus offers to his staff. Despite these efforts, Meta has successfully attracted more than ten former OpenAI engineers to its Superintelligence Labs, including key figures Trapit Bansal and Huiwen Chang, instrumental in developing OpenAI’s advanced reasoning models.

The mounting tension between industry leaders reached new heights as Altman acknowledged his lack of communication with Meta’s co-founder Mark Zuckerberg since the recruitment drive began, though a meeting between the tech titans is anticipated this week.