Meta has appointed Shengjia Zhao, a former researcher at OpenAI, as chief scientist for its AI Superintelligence Lab. Zhao, who previously worked on large language models and AI alignment, is expected to lead efforts in advancing AI capabilities and exploring the potential of superintelligent systems. The move marks a significant step in Meta's ongoing push to develop cutting-edge AI technologies and positions Zhao as a key figure in the company's research division. His hiring underscores Meta's commitment to building advanced AI systems and highlights the growing competition among tech giants to attract top talent in the field. While the details of Zhao's specific role and research focus remain unclear, his appointment signals a strategic shift toward long-term AI innovation. The AI Superintelligence Lab, which was established to explore the future of artificial intelligence, has been working on projects related to AI safety, scalability, and next-generation model development. Zhao's background in AI research and his experience at OpenAI are seen as valuable assets in this endeavor. His new role is likely to influence the direction of Meta's AI strategy and its approach to addressing complex challenges in machine learning. The company has not provided further information about the lab's current projects or future goals, but Zhao's presence is expected to drive progress in its AI initiatives.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced that Shengjia Zhao, a co-creator of OpenAI's ChatGPT, will serve as the chief scientist of Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL). This move is part of a broader strategy to strengthen Meta’s AI capabilities, as the company has been aggressively hiring top AI talent and investing heavily in the field. Earlier this month, Zuckerberg revealed a $14 billion investment in Scale AI, and in June, he launched MSL, a new organization focused on advanced AI research. Zhao, who was listed as a key hire in the June memo, has now been formally named as the lab’s lead scientist. Zhao played a crucial role in developing OpenAI’s major models, including ChatGPT, GPT-4, and the reasoning model o1. His contributions include pioneering a “new scaling paradigm” and leading efforts in synthetic data. In a post on Threads, Zuckerberg praised Zhao’s expertise and stated that he has been central to MSL’s research from the start. Zhao will report directly to Alexandr Wang, the former Scale AI CEO who now serves as Meta’s chief AI officer. Wang, who lacks a traditional research background, was seen as an unconventional choice, but Zhao’s appointment adds significant research credibility to the team. Meta has been actively recruiting top AI researchers from OpenAI, Google DeepMind, Apple, and Anthropic, as well as pulling talent from its own Fundamental AI Research (FAIR) lab and generative AI unit. The company has reportedly offered some researchers multi-million-dollar compensation packages and even “exploding offers” that expire quickly. Zuckerberg has personally reached out to potential hires, even inviting some to his Lake Tahoe estate. The new AI unit will focus on foundation models like the Llama series, as well as fundamental AI research. To support this, Meta is investing heavily in AI infrastructure, including the “Prometheus” data center in Ohio, which will provide a 1 gigawatt computing cluster by 2026. This will power the massive training required for cutting-edge AI models. Additionally, Meta is building a second data center called “Hyperion,” further expanding its computing capacity. Zhao’s appointment gives Meta a strong leadership presence in AI reasoning, an area where the company currently lacks a direct competitor to OpenAI’s o1. With Zhao and Wang leading MSL, the company now has two chief AI scientists: Yann LeCun, who leads FAIR, and Zhao, who will focus on more immediate, applied AI research. The interplay between these three AI units—FAIR, MSL, and the generative AI team—remains unclear, but the move signals Meta’s ambition to challenge OpenAI and Google in the race for advanced AI. The hiring of Zhao and other top researchers underscores Zuckerberg’s push to position Meta as a major player in the AI space. While the legal and ethical debates around AI training data continue, Meta’s strategy is to build a world-class team and infrastructure to drive innovation. With this leadership and investment, the company is aiming to accelerate progress in AI and maintain its competitive edge in the rapidly evolving field.