Meta Platforms has hired engineers from companies such as Google to enhance its AI capabilities.

The company is establishing a new team dedicated to developing artificial general intelligence (AGI), a more advanced type of AI.

Among the new hires are Jack Rae, a principal researcher from Google DeepMind, and Johan Schalkwyk, a machine learning expert from Sesame AI.

Rae has confirmed his transition to Meta but has not disclosed additional information. Schalkwyk has not commented on his move.

Alexandr Wang, CEO of data labeling firm Scale AI, is also expected to collaborate with Meta following a potential multibillion-dollar investment in Scale.

This agreement, reportedly nearing completion, aims to improve Meta’s AI models by utilizing Scale’s data labeling capabilities.

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🔗 Source: Bloomberg

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ The unprecedented economics of AI talent has created a new compensation class

The battle for AI talent has driven extraordinary compensation inflation, with AI-specific roles seeing a 33.7% wage increase in late 2024 alone, far outpacing other technical fields 1.

Meta’s offer of multi-year packages worth tens of millions of dollars to individual researchers represents a fundamental shift in tech compensation structures, creating an elite tier of AI specialists who command previously unheard-of salaries.

This pattern extends beyond Meta, with the entire tech industry experiencing a 45% cumulative increase in advertised salary ranges for computing professionals as companies compete for a severely limited talent pool 2.

The economics are driven by the genuine scarcity of individuals capable of building AGI systems—there are perhaps only several hundred people worldwide with the necessary expertise to lead cutting-edge AI model development.

2️⃣ Culture and mission alignment trump pure compensation in AI talent retention

Despite offering salaries exceeding $2 million annually, Meta continues to lose AI talent to competitors like Anthropic and OpenAI, demonstrating that compensation alone doesn’t ensure retention 3.

Anthropic has achieved an impressive 80% two-year retention rate—significantly higher than competitors—by creating a culture that prioritizes intellectual discourse and researcher autonomy rather than just financial incentives 4.

This pattern is consistent with broader industry findings showing that AI professionals specifically value meaningful work and supportive environments over maximizing compensation, with rigid workplace policies often driving talent away regardless of salary 5.

Meta’s struggles suggest that even multi-million dollar packages can’t overcome organizational culture issues, with data showing they lose staff at much higher rates than competitors despite competitive compensation 3.

3️⃣ CEO-led recruitment signals a fundamental shift in how companies view AI talent

Zuckerberg’s personal involvement in recruitment, meeting candidates at his homes and directly reaching out to potential hires, demonstrates how AI talent acquisition has been elevated to a CEO-level strategic priority 6.

This hands-on approach represents a significant departure from traditional tech hiring practices, where recruitment is typically delegated to specialized teams. It reflects the existential importance companies now place on leading in AI development.

By establishing a separate superintelligence team with elite compensation packages, Meta is creating organizational structures specifically designed to attract and retain AI researchers—a model increasingly adopted across the industry as companies recognize that conventional talent strategies are insufficient for the AI era.

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