Meta appoints Shengjia Zhao as chief scientist of the AI superintelligence unit

Meta appoints Shengjia Zhao as chief scientist for AI unit MSL, joining forces with Alexandr Wang.

: Mark Zuckerberg appointed Shengjia Zhao as the chief scientist of Meta Superintelligence Labs, highlighting the company's focus on AI innovation. Zhao, an influential figure from OpenAI, has been integral to significant breakthroughs like ChatGPT and GPT-4. This appointment enhances leadership, complementing Alexandr Wang, who now leads MSL despite having no research background. Meta aggressively recruits from top-tier AI organizations, offering lucrative packages to secure talent for developing frontier AI models.

Meta recently announced the appointment of Shengjia Zhao as the chief scientist for their newly formed AI unit, Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL). Mark Zuckerberg made the announcement on Threads, emphasizing Zhao's expertise and prior contributions to OpenAI. Zhao's previous work includes collaboration on key projects like ChatGPT and GPT-4, which have set benchmarks in the AI industry. The naming of Zhao, who co-founded MSL and has been leading the scientific direction, comes as Meta organizes its AI efforts alongside Alexandr Wang.

The appointment of Zhao is a strategic move by Meta as it positions itself competitively against rivals like OpenAI and Google DeepMind. Zhao will be leading the scientific direction under the leadership of Alexandr Wang, who was previously the CEO of Scale AI. Despite lacking a research background, Wang was chosen to lead the unit and is complemented by Zhao's research acumen. This combination of leadership aims to round out a robust structure for advancing AI technologies at Meta.

In its push for AI excellence, Meta has been on a hiring spree. The company has reportedly made significant offers, including eight- and nine-figure compensation packages, to attract top-tier talent from organizations like OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and others. According to reports, some of these offers are "exploding" agreements that expire within days. This aggressive recruitment strategy is intended to equip MSL with the capability to pursue cutting-edge research and AI development.

Meta is also increasing its investment in infrastructure to support its AI ambitions. By 2026, MSL researchers, under Zhao's leadership, are expected to utilize Meta's Prometheus, a 1-gigawatt cloud computing cluster in Ohio. This infrastructure will support the large-scale training runs necessary to develop competitive frontier AI models, highlighting Meta's commitment to establishing itself as a leader in AI technology.

The formation of MSL and the appointment of Zhao indicate Meta's aggressive pursuit of AI leadership. With two chief AI scientists now, including Zhao and Yann LeCun from the FAIR lab, Meta explores synergies between its various AI-focused units. The strategic direction and scaling paradigms pioneered by Zhao are crucial to establishing Meta as a major player in the AI field.

Sources: TechCrunch, The Information, Wall Street Journal

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