Meta just hired the co-creator of ChatGPT in an escalating AI talent war with OpenAI

In a bold move to bolster its artificial intelligence capabilities, Meta has recruited Shengjia Zhao, a co-creator of ChatGPT and former lead scientist at OpenAI. Zhao will take on the role of chief scientist at Meta's newly established Superintelligence Labs, as announced by CEO Mark Zuckerberg on social media. He hailed Zhao as a 'pioneer' in AI, known for his significant contributions to major breakthroughs in the field. Zhao's impressive background includes pivotal work on GPT-4 and leadership in synthetic data initiatives at OpenAI. His appointment marks a strategic shift as he collaborates closely with Zuckerberg and Alexandr Wang, Meta's recently appointed chief AI officer and CEO of Scale AI. This recruitment is part of Zuckerberg's extensive investment in AI, which includes a staggering $15 billion in Scale AI and the launch of Meta Superintelligence Labs, aimed at advancing foundational models and next-generation research. Alongside Zhao, Meta has successfully attracted three key researchers from OpenAI's Zurich office—Lucas Beyer, Alexander Kolesnikov, and Xiaohua Zhai—who also have previous experience at Google's DeepMind. The newly formed Superintelligence Labs team boasts a roster of talent previously associated with top AI firms such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google. Despite these acquisitions, the competition for AI talent remains fierce. Naveen Rao, VP at Databricks, compared the current landscape to scouting for sports legends like LeBron James, noting that fewer than 1,000 individuals globally possess the skills required to develop cutting-edge AI models. Companies lacking the financial means to offer lucrative salaries are resorting to alternative incentives, such as hackathons and enhanced computing resources. Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivasa shared that a Meta researcher he approached advised him to reconnect when the company could provide '10,000 H100s,' a nod to the high stakes in the talent war. Meta's aggressive strategy has drawn mixed reactions from industry leaders. Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind, remarked on a podcast that while Meta's actions may seem rational given their current position, they are not leading the charge in AI innovation. OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman expressed skepticism about Meta's recruitment tactics, labeling their focus on financial incentives as 'crazy' and suggesting it might undermine their work culture. Both Meta and OpenAI have yet to comment on these developments.