Meta has snapped up a fifth founding member from Mira Murati's Thinking Machines Lab

In a significant move, Meta has secured the expertise of Joshua Gross, a founding member of the innovative Thinking Machines Lab, founded by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati. Gross, a seasoned software engineer, played a pivotal role in developing the lab's flagship product, Tinker, from inception to launch. As of last month, he has taken on a leadership position at Meta Superintelligence Labs, where he now oversees engineering teams. This acquisition marks the fifth founding member that Meta has recruited from Thinking Machines Lab, which has emerged as a prominent hub for AI talent. The lab was valued at $12 billion after a remarkable $2 billion funding round last year, making it a prime target for larger tech firms amidst the escalating competition for AI expertise in Silicon Valley. Notably, Gross isn't the only talent to have transitioned from Thinking Machines Lab to major tech players. OpenAI has also tapped into this resource by hiring Barret Zoph, the lab's former CTO, and cybersecurity specialist Jolene Parish. Despite these departures, Thinking Machines Lab has made impressive strides, appointing Meta’s Soumith Chintala, known for creating the open-source AI project PyTorch, as their new CTO. They have also brought on board Neal Wu, a distinguished coder celebrated for winning three gold medals at a programming Olympiad. Since its establishment in San Francisco just last year, Thinking Machines Lab has more than quadrupled its workforce to approximately 130 employees, according to sources familiar with the company's developments. Both Meta and Thinking Machines Lab have chosen not to comment on these recent changes.