Meta’s Bold Move in the AI Talent Race
In a striking development within the artificial intelligence landscape, Meta recently sought to acquire Safe Superintelligence, an AI startup valued at $32 billion. The company was founded by Ilya Sutskever, a prominent co-founder of OpenAI. When Sutskever declined Meta’s acquisition offer, the social media giant instead shifted focus to recruiting Safe Superintelligence’s CEO and co-founder, Daniel Gross.
Strategic Recruitment: Daniel Gross and Nat Friedman Join Meta
Following the unsuccessful acquisition attempt, Meta initiated negotiations with Daniel Gross, who also co-runs a venture fund alongside former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman. As part of the deal, both Gross and Friedman are set to join Meta’s expanding AI team. Additionally, Meta will acquire a stake in their venture fund, known as NFDG, to deepen its investment in AI innovation.
Sources reveal that Gross and Friedman will contribute to projects under the leadership of Alexandr Wang, the CEO of Scale AI, whom Meta recently secured through a $14.3 billion investment. This hiring spree signals Meta’s commitment to strengthening its position in the rapidly evolving AI arena.
Background: The Dynamics Behind Meta’s AI Expansion
Meta had hoped to bring Safe Superintelligence under its wing earlier this year, following the startup’s robust valuation achieved in April. However, Sutskever declined both Meta’s acquisition offer and their overtures to hire him personally. Undeterred, CEO Mark Zuckerberg recalibrated Meta’s approach by targeting other key figures within the startup.
Competing for Top AI Talent
The competition for AI expertise has intensified sharply, with companies like Meta, OpenAI, and others racing to develop cutting-edge large language models and pursue advancements toward artificial general intelligence — AI systems capable of human-level or superior cognition.
Just last week, Meta made headlines by investing $14.3 billion in Scale AI, securing leading AI engineer Alexandr Wang and several others as part of the deal. Conversations about talent acquisition have reportedly included offers with signing bonuses reaching as high as $100 million, underscoring the ferocity of the talent battle.
Industry Giants and the AI Talent Shuffle
Outside Meta, OpenAI has also pursued top-tier talent aggressively, including attempts to recruit influential designers and engineers. Other major players like Google have made comparable moves, exemplified by the multi-billion-dollar acquisition of the AI startup Character.AI.
Daniel Gross’s deep entrepreneurial background and AI expertise make him a prized addition. He co-founded the search engine Cue, was instrumental in Apple’s machine learning and Siri projects, and later partnered at Y Combinator before launching Safe Superintelligence. Nat Friedman, with a history of leading GitHub through Microsoft’s acquisition, complements this dynamic with his tech leadership and venture capital experience.
What Lies Ahead for Meta’s AI Ambitions
With these recent maneuvers, Meta is making clear its intention to accelerate AI development through strategic hires, investments, and partnerships. Integrating seasoned entrepreneurs and investors like Gross and Friedman is expected to boost innovation and competitiveness.
A spokesperson from Meta has indicated that more details about their superintelligence initiatives and new team members will be unveiled shortly, signaling further advances on the horizon.
