Meta poaches three OpenAI researchers, WSJ reports

Meta has recruited three researchers from OpenAI—Lucas Beyer, Alexander Kolesnikov, and Xiaohua Zhai—who were previously based in the ChatGPT creator’s Zurich office, according to a Wall Street Journal report. These hirings are part of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s push to bolster the company’s 'superintelligence' team, a move that follows OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's allegations that Meta is aggressively offering bonuses, reportedly up to $100 million, to lure away OpenAI staff. This development comes amid Meta’s efforts to recover from previous setbacks, including staff departures and delays in launching competitive open-source AI models. As part of its broader strategy to spearhead artificial general intelligence (AGI), Meta has also brought on board Alexandr Wang, the 28-year-old CEO of Scale AI, and acquired a 49% stake in the company for $14.3 billion. The moves underscore Meta’s renewed commitment to leading in the advanced AI space, competing with industry heavyweights like Google, OpenAI, and China's DeepSeek.