Zuckerberg Launches Meta Superintelligence Labs with Billions in Investments
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta Platforms Inc., has announced a major reorganization of his company's artificial intelligence group. The new strategy includes a commitment to developing "superintelligence"—systems capable of performing tasks as well as or even better than humans.
In an internal memo to employees on Monday, Zuckerberg announced that all of Meta's AI projects will fall under a new group called Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL). The group will be led by Alexandr Wang, former CEO of Scale AI, in which Meta recently acquired a stake for $14.3 billion.
Alexandr Wang as the New Chief AI Officer
Wang, whom Zuckerberg called "the most impressive founder of his generation," will serve as Meta's chief AI officer. He will lead the group alongside Nat Friedman, former CEO of GitHub, who will focus on AI products and applied research.
"As the pace of AI progress accelerates, the development of superintelligence is coming into sight," Zuckerberg wrote in his internal post. "I believe this will be the beginning of a new era for humanity, and I am fully committed to doing whatever it takes for Meta to lead the way."
Hundreds of Billions of Dollars for AI Projects
Zuckerberg expects Meta to spend "hundreds of billions" of dollars on AI projects and research in the coming years. However, the Facebook founder also expects that many companies will likely overinvest in AI in an effort not to miss the wave of technological progress.
"There is a significant chance that a lot of companies are overbuilding now," he said last summer. "But on the other hand, I think all the companies that are investing are making rational decisions, because the downside of falling behind is that you will be out of position for the most important technology of the next 10 to 15 years."
Structure of the New MSL Division
The new MSL division will include the company's existing teams focused on large language models, the technology that powers generative AI, as well as AI products and the Fundamental AI Research (FAIR) team. Meta is also creating "a new lab focused on developing the next generation of our models," Zuckerberg wrote.
Meta's shares were virtually unchanged on the day of the announcement, reaching a record high of $747.90 per share.
Zuckerberg's Personal Involvement in Recruiting Talent
Artificial intelligence has become Zuckerberg's top priority this year as he competes with rivals such as OpenAI and Google to develop state-of-the-art models and AI assistants. Zuckerberg is personally working to recruit talent for Meta's AI teams. He hosts prospective employees at his homes in Palo Alto, California, and Lake Tahoe, and handles most of the initial outreach himself.
Meta has offered some researchers compensation packages, including stock awards, worth tens of millions of dollars—a sign of Meta's commitment to AI and the level of competition in the industry.
Eleven New Key Hires
In addition to the newly structured team, Zuckerberg announced eleven new hires for the group, including researchers and software engineers from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google. The group includes former DeepMind researchers Jack Rae and Pei Sun; several OpenAI researchers, including Jiahui Yu, Shuchao Bi, Shengjia Zhao, and Hongyu Ren; and Anthropic's Joel Pobar, a software engineer who previously worked at Meta for more than a decade.
Expansion Through Acquisitions
Meta has also held acquisition talks with Perplexity AI Inc. and Runway AI Inc. and is expected to acquire PlayAI, a small startup that uses artificial intelligence to replicate voices. These moves demonstrate Meta's broad strategy to acquire AI technologies and talent. The creation of Meta Superintelligence Labs marks a significant milestone in the race to develop superintelligent artificial intelligence and establishes Meta as one of the leading players in this field alongside OpenAI and Google.
