Who is Daniel Gross? Meta's newest addition to the AI poaching spree

Daniel Gross, the ex-CEO and co-founder of Safe Superintelligence Inc. (SSI), has made headlines by joining Meta Platforms’ newly established superintelligence lab. This move is part of an intense competition for top talent in the artificial intelligence sector. Gross will focus on developing AI products within Meta’s superintelligence unit, as confirmed by his spokesperson, Lulu Meservey. This transition follows Meta's recent overhaul of its AI division, which has seen a series of high-profile recruits aimed at advancing artificial general intelligence (AGI) — AI systems that exhibit human-like or superior cognitive abilities. Ilya Sutskever, Gross's co-founder at SSI and the former chief scientist at OpenAI, revealed on Friday that Gross had stepped down from his role at the startup. Sutskever will now take over as CEO of SSI. In a farewell message posted on X, Gross hinted at his future without mentioning Meta directly, stating, “The company’s future is very bright, and I expect miracles to follow.” His exit from SSI comes just months after the startup was founded with a mission to create safe and aligned superintelligence. Gross’s recruitment is viewed as part of a broader strategy led by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who has been actively reaching out to prominent figures in AI. Reports indicate that Zuckerberg has invited potential hires to his homes in Palo Alto and Lake Tahoe to discuss opportunities. Notably, Gross is not the only significant name contributing to Meta’s superintelligence efforts. Nat Friedman, the former CEO of GitHub and a long-time associate of Gross at their venture capital firm NFDG, has also joined the initiative. Together with former Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang, they are co-leading Meta’s superintelligence program. Furthermore, The Wall Street Journal has reported that Meta has expressed interest in acquiring a minority stake in NFDG’s funds, which could enhance their partnership further. Gross's career has been diverse within Silicon Valley's tech ecosystem. He co-founded Cue, an AI-driven search startup, which was acquired by Apple in 2013. Following the acquisition, Gross contributed to Apple’s AI and search projects until 2017, and later took on a role as a partner at the startup accelerator Y Combinator.