Latest news with #Llama
Express Tribune
2 hours ago
- Business
- Express Tribune
Zuckerberg luring away top AI talent with big bucks
Mark Zuckerberg and Meta are spending billions to recruit top artificial intelligence talent, triggering debates about whether the aggressive hiring spree will pay off in the competitive generative AI race, reported AFP. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently complained that Meta has offered $100 million bonuses to lure engineers away from his company, where they would join teams already earning substantial salaries. Several OpenAI employees have accepted Meta's offers, prompting executives at the ChatGPT maker to scramble to retain their best talent. "I feel a visceral feeling right now, as if someone has broken into our home and stolen something," Chief Research Officer Mark Chen wrote in a Saturday Slack memo obtained by Wired magazine. Chen said the company was working "around the clock to talk to those with offers" and find ways to keep them at OpenAI. Meta's recruitment drive has also landed Scale AI founder and former CEO Alexandr Wang, a Silicon Valley rising star, who will lead a new group called Meta Superintelligence Labs, according to an internal memo, whose content was confirmed by the company. Meta paid more than $14 billion for a 49 per cent stake in Scale AI in mid-June, bringing Wang aboard as part of the acquisition. Scale AI specialises in labelling data to train AI models for businesses, governments, and research labs. "As the pace of AI progress accelerates, developing superintelligence is coming into sight," Zuckerberg wrote in the memo, which was first reported by Bloomberg. "I believe this will be the beginning of a new era for humanity, and I am fully committed to doing what it takes for Meta to lead the way," he added. US media outlets report that Meta's recruitment campaign has also targeted OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever, Google rival Perplexity AI, and the buzzy AI video startup Runway. Seeking ways to expand his business empire beyond Facebook and Instagram, Zuckerberg is personally leading the charge, driven by concerns that Meta is falling behind competitors in generative AI. The latest version of Meta's AI model, Llama, ranked below heavyweight rivals in code-writing performance on the LM Arena platform, where users evaluate AI technologies. Meta is integrating new recruits into a dedicated team focused on developing "superintelligence" — AI that surpasses human cognitive abilities. 'Mercenary' approach Tech blogger Zvi Moshowitz believes Zuckerberg had little choice but to act aggressively, though he expects mixed results from the talent grab. "There are some extreme downsides to going pure mercenary... and being a company with products no one wants to work on," Moshowitz told AFP. "I don't expect it to work, but I suppose Llama will suck less." While Meta's stock price approaches record highs and the company's valuation nears $2 trillion, some investors are growing concerned. Institutional investors worry about Meta's cash management and reserves, according to Baird strategist Ted Mortonson. "Right now, there are no checks and balances" on Zuckerberg's spending decisions, Mortonson noted. Though the potential for AI to enhance Meta's profitable advertising business is appealing, "people have a real big concern about spending." Meta executives envision using AI to streamline advertising from creation to targeting, potentially bypassing creative agencies and offering brands a complete solution. The AI talent acquisitions represent long-term investments unlikely to boost Meta's profitability immediately, according to CFRA analyst Angelo Zino. "But still, you need those people on board now and to invest aggressively to be ready for that phase" of generative AI development. The New York Times reports that Zuckerberg is considering moving away from Meta's Llama model, possibly adopting competing AI systems instead.
Qatar Tribune
a day ago
- Business
- Qatar Tribune
Meta spending big on AI talent but will it pay off?
Agencies Mark Zuckerberg and Meta are spending billions of dollars for top talent to make up ground in the generative artificial intelligence race, sparking doubt about the wisdom of the spree. OpenAI boss Sam Altman recently lamented that Meta has offered $100 million bonuses to engineers who jump to Zuckerberg's ship, where hefty salaries await. A few OpenAI employees have reportedly taken Meta up on the offer, joining Scale AI founder and former chief executive Alexandr Wang at the Menlo Park-based tech titan. Meta paid more than $14 billion for a 49 percent stake in Scale AI in mid-June, bringing Wang on board as part of the deal. Scale AI labels data to better train AI models for businesses, governments and labs. 'Meta has finalized our strategic partnership and investment in Scale AI,' a Meta spokesperson told AFP. 'As part of this, we will deepen the work we do together producing data for AI models and Alexandr Wang will join Meta to work on our superintelligence efforts.' U.S. media outlets have reported that Meta's recruitment effort has also targeted OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever; Google rival Perplexity AI, and hot AI video startup Runway. Meta chief Zuckerberg is reported to have sounded the charge himself due to worries Meta is lagging rivals in the generative AI race. The latest version of Meta AI model Llama finished behind its heavyweight rivals in code writing rankings at an LM Arena platform that lets users evaluate the technology. Meta is integrating recruits into a new team dedicated to developing 'superintelligence,' or AI that outperforms people when it comes to thinking and understanding. Tech blogger Zvi Moshowitz felt Zuckerberg had to do something about the situation, expecting Meta to succeed in attracting hot talent but questioning how well it will pay off. 'There are some extreme downsides to going pure mercenary... and being a company with products no one wants to work on,' Moshowitz told AFP. 'I don't expect it to work, but I suppose Llama will suck less.' While Meta's share price is nearing a new high with the overall value of the company approaching $2 trillion, some investors have started to worry. Institutional investors are concerned about how well Meta is managing its cash flow and reserves, according to Baird strategist Ted Mortonson. 'Right now, there are no checks and balances' with Zuckerberg free to do as he wishes running Meta, Mortonson noted. The potential for Meta to cash in by using AI to rev its lucrative online advertising machine has strong appeal but 'people have a real big concern about spending,' said executives have laid out a vision of using AI to streamline the ad process from easy creation to smarter targeting, bypassing creative agencies and providing a turnkey solution to brands. AI talent hires are a long-term investment unlikely to impact Meta's profitability in the immediate future, according to CFRA analyst Angelo Zino. 'But still, you need those people on board now and to invest aggressively to be ready for that phase' of generative AI, Zino said. According to The New York Times, Zuckerberg is considering shifting away from Meta's Llama, perhaps even using competing AI models instead.
Tom's Guide
a day ago
- Business
- Tom's Guide
Meta's new 'Superintelligence' team could upend the entire AI industry — here's why OpenAI should be worried
Mark Zuckerberg is no longer content playing catch-up in the AI space, especially with Meta's biggest rival, ChatGPT's OpenAI. The proof is in his recent hiring spree that's poached top researchers from OpenAI, Google DeepMind and Claude's Anthropic to form Meta's new "Superintelligence" team. In an internal memo first reported by Wired, Zuckerberg welcomed more than a dozen elite AI scientists into Meta's newly branded Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL). The move signals a bold shift that Meta is going after artificial general intelligence (AGI), and it's doing it with financial force. Among Meta's new recruits are multiple former OpenAI researchers, including Jiahui Yu, Shuchao Bi, Shengjia Zhao and Hongyu Ren. They're joined by several big names from Google and DeepMind such as Lucas Beyer, Alexander Kolesnikov, and Xiaohua Zhai; all known for their work on high-performing multimodal models and model alignment. Zuckerberg is assembling full research groups and giving them the infrastructure (and budget) to go big. According to multiple reports, some of the hires were lured by seven- to nine-figure pay packages and direct pitches from Zuckerberg himself. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. Meta also tapped Nat Friedman, former GitHub CEO, and Daniel Gross, an AI-focused investor, to co-lead the applied AI arm of MSL. The mix of pure research firepower and product-ready AI talent is the balance Meta will need if it wants to scale cutting-edge models into tools consumers actually want to use (like ChatGPT has proven to be). Until now, Meta has largely stayed in the background of the AI arms race, focusing on open-source LLMs like Llama while OpenAI and Anthropic dominated the spotlight with ChatGPT and Claude. But with this high-profile hiring spree, Meta is making one thing clear: it wants to lead AI developmen, not be in the shadows anymore. This escalation has several major implications: Losing talent to a direct competitor hurts, and OpenAI reportedly isn't happy about it. After several team members jumped to Meta, OpenAI's Chief Scientist, Jukan Choi described the exodus as feeling like 'someone broke into our house.' With multiple researchers leaving in a short window, including from OpenAI's Zurich office, it's clear that Meta's offers are lucrative but also strategically timed and targeted. What does this mean for the launch of ChatGPT-5? We don't know exactly, but my guess is that the much-anticipated chatbot could be delayed due to the loss of much of OpenAI's top talent. Artificial general intelligence (AGI) is no longer a distant goal for Meta. Zuckerberg now publicly says Meta is working toward it, and with this new team, it's building the talent to match. Meta is investing in long-context reasoning, multi-modal learning, alignment research and inference optimization — the very same pillars that OpenAI and DeepMind prioritize. Meta has something most companies don't: access to billions of users and massive compute infrastructure. Pairing world-class AI talent with Meta's scale, plus its reach across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Ray-Bans, could rapidly close the gap. Beyond a shockingly significant hiring spree, Zuckerberg's move is a signal that Meta wants to win the AI race. With top-tier researchers, aggressive investment and an infrastructure built for global rollout, Zuckerberg is making Meta a serious contender in the race for AI dominance. Whether this results in smarter chatbots, better wearable AI or the first real steps toward AGI, one thing is clear: the balance of power in AI is shifting, almost as fast as AI is evolving.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
BofA highlights Meta's early AI gains and revenue momentum, reiterates Buy rating
-- In a note to clients on Tuesday, Bank of America reiterated its Buy rating on Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) with a $765 price target, citing strong early momentum in artificial intelligence and a strategic overhaul of the company's AI division. The move follows reports that the company has created a new Superintelligence Labs unit, led by Alexandr Wang, former CEO of ScaleAI, with Nat Friedman, former GitHub CEO, helping to oversee product development and research. In an internal memo, CEO Mark Zuckerberg is said to have stated: 'As the pace of AI progress accelerates, developing superintelligence is coming into sight. We believe this will be the beginning of a new era for humanity, and I am fully committed to doing what it takes for Meta to lead the way.' BofA noted Meta's 'substantial investment in talent,' including 11 new hires from leading AI firms like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL). Reports of compensation packages exceeding $100 million suggest Meta is aggressively building a top-tier AI team. Analysts said the restructuring reflects Meta's intent to be both 'an AI starting place for users' and a developer platform, leveraging its Llama language model and wide user base. Meta's AI applications like Andromeda and Advantage+ are said to already be improving ad performance, with monetization opportunities emerging in Threads, WhatsApp, and upcoming subscription models. However, BofA warned that ramping up AI operations will drive higher operating costs. Meta's expenses are expected to rise 19% year over year to $113.6 billion in 2025, in line with guidance. Even so, BofA believes there is 'room for these costs in Street estimates,' adding that Meta remains an early AI beneficiary with clear monetization upside. Related articles BofA highlights Meta's early AI gains and revenue momentum, reiterates Buy rating Wall Street analysts start bullish on Omada Health on chronic care market growth AstraZeneca stock rises amid reports CEO favors US listing move Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Express Tribune
2 days ago
- Business
- Express Tribune
Mark Zuckerberg announces launch of Meta Superintelligence Labs
Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has announced the launch of Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL), a new AI unit intended to position the company at the forefront of artificial general intelligence development. The unit will bring together Meta's existing teams working on foundation models including the open-source Llama model and its Fundamental AI Research (FAIR) division. It will also launch a new lab focused on what Zuckerberg described as 'the next generation' of models. MSL will be led by Alexandr Wang, former chief executive of Scale AI, who joins Meta as chief AI officer. He will work alongside Nat Friedman, former GitHub CEO and a partner in the AI venture capital scene, who will oversee product and applied research efforts. The announcement, made via an internal memo obtained by CNBC, comes as Meta accelerates its recruitment drive amid intense competition with OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft for top AI talent. The company recently hired Wang and several colleagues as part of a $14.3 billion investment in AI infrastructure. It also recruited Friedman and Daniel Gross, both previously involved with Safe Superintelligence, the AI venture co-founded by OpenAI's Ilya Sutskever. In his memo, Zuckerberg said the emergence of superintelligence marked 'the beginning of a new era for humanity,' and that Meta was 'fully committed' to leading in its development. 'Meta is uniquely positioned to deliver superintelligence to the world,' he added, citing its scale, infrastructure, and experience in global product deployment. The new division will include high-profile hires from leading labs such as OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Anthropic. Zuckerberg also highlighted Meta's roadmap for Llama 4.1 and 4.2, which are already integrated across Meta platforms and used by more than a billion people monthly. Alongside this, the company is initiating work on its next set of frontier models, with a 'small, talent-dense' team still in formation. The creation of MSL signals Meta's strategic intent to move beyond consumer-facing AI assistants and invest in foundational AI infrastructure. The announcement also reinforces Zuckerberg's vision of 'personal superintelligence for everyone'—a competitive stake in the rapidly evolving global AI landscape. Zuckerberg concluded his note by hinting at more talent announcements in the coming weeks, describing the effort as 'a new influx of talent and a parallel approach to model development.'
