Meta recruits AI experts from Apple in continued hiring spree
What's the story
Meta has hired two key artificial intelligence (AI) researchers, Mark Lee and Tom Gunter, from Apple. Both Lee and Gunter previously worked with Ruoming Pang, the chief of Apple's large language models team. Meta poached Pang earlier this month with a multiyear compensation package worth well over $200 million. Lee and Gunter will now be part of Meta's Superintelligence Labs team. While Lee has already started working at Meta, Gunter is expected to join soon.
Recruitment drive
Meta is aggressively hiring AI talent
Meta has been aggressively hiring AI talent, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg making it a top priority for the company. The social media giant is investing heavily in employees and data centers to keep up with competitors like OpenAI and Google. The company is even offering multiyear packages worth over $100 million to AI experts like Gunter.
Previous positions
Lee and Gunter's roles at Apple
At Apple, Lee was known as Pang's first hire while Gunter was a distinguished engineer and one of the most senior members of the group. After leaving Apple last month, Gunter joined another AI company but left recently. The departure of Pang, Lee and Gunter highlights the ongoing turmoil at Apple's Foundation Models (AFM) team, which develops generative AI technology.
Strategic shift
Apple's AI team considering external models for generative AI
Apple's top AI executives are considering using external models to power Siri and other Apple Intelligence features. The move has raised questions about the future of the AFM team, which reports to research head Daphne Luong. They are evaluating strategy changes with Mike Rockwell and Craig Federighi, software executives now in charge of Siri.