Apple AI expert poached: Meta allegedly pays him 200 million US dollars
Mark Zuckerberg wants to pave his way to AGI and spends a ton of money to do so. Ruoming Pang, former Basic Model Manager at Apple, seems to benefit from this.
Apple and Meta logos: Mark Zuckerberg spends a lot of money on recruiting AI experts.
(Image: mundissima / Shutterstock)
The rumors that Meta is paying up to three-digit million sums to poach AI experts from well-known companies appear to be correct: According to a new report by the financial news agency Bloomberg, the Facebook operator has now spent a good 200 million US dollars to hire the former head of basic models at Apple. According to the report, the sum for Ruoming Pang is made up of several parts and will therefore not be paid immediately. However, the total amount is actually within the expected range.
Huge sums for one person
Pang is to work in Meta's “Superintelligence” team (Meta Superintelligence Labs, MSL for short), with which CEO Mark Zuckerberg wants to realize his dream of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). Informed circles have confirmed the 200 million-dollar package, which could allegedly be even higher. Pang will receive a basic salary, a bonus upon signing the contract plus – which is likely to make up the lion's share – a large meta-share package. This means that the social network giant has to put relatively little cash on the table.
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In addition, the payment – or issue of the share certificates – takes place over several years to keep Pang on the team. Nevertheless, the sums are unusual even in the much-hyped AI business. Such payments are usually only made to the most important company bosses or perhaps people who have sold their start-up to a corporation. Pang, on the other hand, is a “normal” employee. Although he is said to have managed a team of around 100 people, Apple is by no means regarded as a leader in AI in Silicon Valley. The basic model for which Pang is responsible is said to be inferior to those of Anthropic, OpenAI, or even Meta. Apple also had to postpone AI products such as a new, context-sensitive Siri because the technicians from the AI department were allegedly unable to deliver.
Ten OpenAI employees at Meta
Pang now has to work long hours for Meta to earn the full salary and stock package. According to Bloomberg, his contract also includes performance targets. If he leaves the company early, there will be significantly less. Nevertheless, the Meta “Superintelligence” group has some of the highest salaries around they are more comparable to CEO jobs and the investment industry, Bloomberg writes.
Zuckerberg hopes to be able to poach employees from well-known AI companies. Meta has reportedly succeeded in luring up to ten OpenAI experts including through Zuckerberg himself, who assists in the recruitment process with emails and conversations. Anthropic and Google also lost employees to Meta. OpenAI boss Sam Altman has now announced that he will speak to Zuckerberg at a conference. However, agreements between the companies are not legally permitted, but Altman is apparently still hoping for a “gentleman's agreement.”
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