Two more OpenAI researchers jump ship to Meta's AI lab
What's the story
Jason Wei, a prominent researcher at OpenAI, is set to join Meta's new superintelligence lab. Wei has worked on OpenAI's o3 and deep research models since joining the company in 2023. Before that, he was at Google where he focused on chain-of-thought research. This involves training an AI model to handle complex queries step-by-step. At OpenAI, Wei became a strong advocate for reinforcement learning, a technique of improving an AI model with feedback.
Team shift
AI reseracher Hyung Won Chung is also joining Meta
Along with Wei, another OpenAI researcher Hyung Won Chung is also likely to join Meta. Both researchers have worked on similar projects at OpenAI, including deep research, with Chung specifically working on the company's o1 model. Their work primarily focuses on reasoning and agents. Wei and Chung have a close working relationship, which could be a factor in their potential move to Meta's superintelligence lab.
Recruitment war
Meta and OpenAI are both trying to outmaneuver each other
Meta has been aggressively recruiting top AI talent, offering up to $300 million over four years. The company's CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently shared a memo detailing a new plan for its AI efforts and the superintelligence team. Most of the new hires were from OpenAI. However, OpenAI is also fighting back in this recruitment war, having just hired four high-ranking engineers from Tesla, xAI, and Meta last week.