Meta Boosts AI Team with Four More Top Researchers from OpenAI Following Llama 4 Launch Setbacks

It appears that Meta isn’t slowing down its efforts to bolster its AI team by attracting talent from OpenAI. Earlier this week, TechCrunch reported that Meta had hired influential OpenAI researcher Trapit Bansal. Now, The Information reveals that four more researchers—Shengjia Zhao, Jiahui Yu, Shuchao Bi, and Hongyu Ren—have also joined Meta. This hiring spree follows the April launch of Meta’s Llama 4 AI models, which reportedly fell short of CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s expectations. The company faced criticism, particularly over the version of Llama it used for a popular benchmark test. The exchange between the two companies highlights the intensity of the competition. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman suggested on Twitter that Meta was offering “$100 million signing bonuses,” though he added that “so far, none of our best people” had left. In response, Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth communicated to employees that while such large sums may have been discussed for senior leaders, the actual terms of the offers were more nuanced and complex than a straightforward one-time bonus. These recent hires underscore Meta's commitment to improving its AI capabilities and closing the performance gap with its competitors, who are making rapid advancements in the field. The addition of these highly skilled researchers is seen as a strategic move to enhance the quality of Meta’s AI models and secure a stronger position in the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence.