ChatGPT co-creator named Chief Scientist at Meta’s Superintelligence Labs

In a significant move for Meta, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the appointment of Shengjia Zhao, a co-creator of ChatGPT, as the Chief Scientist of the newly established Superintelligence Labs. This new position will see Zhao leading the research initiatives at the lab, shaping its scientific strategy, and working directly under Meta's Chief AI Officer, Alexandr Wang. Zuckerberg shared the news on Threads, stating, "Shengjia co-founded the new lab and has been our lead scientist from day one. As our recruitment efforts are progressing well and our team is taking shape, we felt it was time to officially recognize his leadership role." He expressed excitement about Zhao's groundbreaking work, highlighting his development of innovative scaling methods and his prominence in the AI field. This appointment comes at a crucial time for Meta, as the company seeks to regain its competitive edge in the AI sector following a lukewarm response to its recent Llama model launches. Zuckerberg's strategy includes a hefty $14 billion acquisition of Scale AI and the formation of Superintelligence Labs, aiming to attract top talent from leading AI firms like OpenAI, Google, and Apple. Additionally, Zuckerberg confirmed that Yann LeCun, who has been with Meta for over ten years and serves as Chief Scientist, will remain with the company. LeCun will continue his work at the internal AI research group known as FAIR, focusing on long-term AI research and the development of future AI paradigms. Shengjia Zhao's transition to Meta is notable, as he was among a group of employees who recently left OpenAI. He played a crucial role in the original ChatGPT research and contributed to OpenAI's first reasoning model, o1, which was instrumental in popularizing reasoning models and inspiring various similar models across the industry. Holding a bachelor's degree from Tsinghua University and a PhD in Computer Science from Stanford University, Zhao's expertise and innovative vision are expected to propel Meta's AI initiatives forward. This strategic move underscores Meta's commitment to revitalizing its position in the rapidly evolving AI landscape.