Meta has pulled off a significant talent acquisition in the ongoing AI arms race by hiring Ruoming Pang, the executive who led Apple’s AI model development team. Pang has now joined Meta’s recently formed Superintelligence Labs, a unit dedicated to building artificial general intelligence (AGI). This high-profile move, first reported by Bloomberg, underscores Meta’s aggressive strategy to assemble a powerhouse AI team amid stiff competition from rivals like OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic.

Pang previously headed Apple’s Foundation Models (AFM) group, which played a critical role in shaping the company’s AI roadmap—including its next-gen Siri project. His departure is seen as a major blow to Apple’s efforts in catching up with competitors in the large language model space.

The lure? According to sources, Meta has extended a multi-million-dollar compensation package to Pang. While exact figures remain undisclosed, the move is part of Meta’s broader campaign to entice leading AI researchers with substantial salaries and access to extensive computing resources—two key advantages in the high-stakes world of AI development.

Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg has openly spoken about his ambition to build a “superintelligence” dream team. Backing that vision, Meta has already hired top talent from companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google. Just this Monday, Bloomberg reports, Meta added Yuanzhi Li from OpenAI and Anton Bakhtin from Anthropic—both veterans in working on cutting-edge models like GPT and Claude.

Adding to the strategy, Meta’s Superintelligence Labs is now co-led by Alexandr Wang, the former CEO of Scale AI. Wang has joined as Chief AI Officer following Meta’s investment in Scale AI, which valued the data-labeling startup at $29 billion.

The hiring spree is stirring unease across Silicon Valley. OpenAI’s chief researcher Mark Chen likened Meta’s tactics to “someone breaking into our home and stealing something.” CEO Sam Altman added that some staff were offered signing bonuses as high as $100 million—but insisted, “none of our best people have decided to take them up on that.”

Meta’s Chief Technology Officer Andrew Bosworth responded during an internal meeting, pushing back on the rumours. “Look, you guys, the market’s hot. It’s not that hot,” he said, stressing that the most extravagant compensation offers were limited to a few senior positions.

Since launching its Superintelligence Labs, Meta has recruited more than a dozen AI experts from top tech firms. Notable new members include Trapit Bansal, credited with developing parts of OpenAI’s o-series models; Shuchao Bi, known for his work on GPT-4o’s voice; and Huiwen Chang, who led image generation research at Google. Others onboard include Ji Lin, Joel Pobar, Jack Rae, Johan Schalkwyk, Pei Sun, Hongyu Ren, Jiahui Yu, and Shengjia Zhao.

Meanwhile, Apple has begun reshuffling leadership in its AFM team following Pang’s exit. His deputy Tom Gunter had already left last month. The team is now being led by Zhifeng Chen, with responsibilities distributed among other managers like Chong Wang and Guoli Yin, according to 9to5Mac.

As the battle for AI dominance heats up, Meta’s strategic hires suggest it’s ready to invest heavily in shaping the future of artificial general intelligence—regardless of whose feathers get ruffled.