Meta Poaches Apple's Core AI Architect for Superintelligence Labs

The escalating war for top-tier artificial intelligence talent has claimed a significant casualty at Apple, with the departure of a key executive overseeing the company's foundational models to rival Meta Platforms. Ruoming Pang, a distinguished engineer who managed the team responsible for developing Apple's large language models, has left the Cupertino tech giant to join Meta's burgeoning "superintelligence" division.[1][2] This high-profile move underscores the intense and costly competition among tech behemoths to assemble elite teams capable of building the next generation of AI, a battle that Meta appears to be waging with exceptional aggression. Pang's exit is seen as a considerable setback for Apple's AI ambitions, which have only recently been detailed to the public and are considered by some to be behind competitors.[3][4]

Pang's role at Apple was central to its burgeoning AI strategy.[5] He joined the company in 2021 after a stint at Alphabet and was tasked with leading the Apple Foundation Models (AFM) team, a group of approximately 100 employees.[6][7] This team's work is fundamental to the recently announced "Apple Intelligence," powering features such as email summaries, Priority Notifications, and the personalized Genmoji.[7] The models developed under Pang's leadership were also intended to be a core component of a significantly upgraded Siri.[8] His departure comes at a critical time for Apple, which is already perceived as playing catch-up in the generative AI space and has faced challenges and delays with its AI product rollout.[7][9] The move has reportedly impacted morale within the AFM team, with suggestions that other engineers are also considering offers from competing companies.[7] This follows the departure of Pang's top deputy, Tom Gunter, just last month.[4][8]

Meta, on the other hand, is aggressively expanding its AI capabilities under the personal direction of CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Pang is joining Meta's newly formed Superintelligence Labs, a division headed by Alexandr Wang, the 28-year-old founder of data-labeling startup Scale AI, who recently became Meta's chief AI officer.[10][11] This new division is part of a broader company reorganization to consolidate and accelerate AI efforts.[10] Meta's recruitment strategy has been characterized by its intensity and extraordinarily lucrative compensation packages.[4] To secure Pang, Meta reportedly offered a package worth tens of millions of dollars annually, a figure that significantly exceeds typical compensation for similar roles at Apple.[4][12] This is part of a wider pattern of Meta poaching top talent from rivals including OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google, with Zuckerberg personally involved in the recruitment process, even hosting candidates at his private residences.[6][8]

The implications of this talent shift are significant for both companies and the broader AI landscape. For Apple, the loss of a key leader like Pang exacerbates existing concerns about its AI strategy and execution.[9] The company has reportedly been in discussions to potentially use third-party models from competitors like OpenAI or Anthropic to power future versions of Siri, a consideration that is said to have contributed to the dip in morale on the internal models team.[7][6] Following Pang's departure, the AFM team will be led by Zhifeng Chen under a reorganized, more layered management structure.[6][8] Apple's overall AI efforts are now being overseen more directly by software chief Craig Federighi and Mike Rockwell, who led the Vision Pro development, signaling a potential shift in leadership and strategy.[7][12]

In contrast, Meta's successful recruitment of Pang is a clear signal of its immense ambition and willingness to invest heavily to secure a leading position in the AI race.[13] The company has committed tens of billions to AI infrastructure and talent acquisition this year alone.[6] By assembling a team of leading researchers and engineers from across the industry, Meta is positioning its Superintelligence Labs as a premier destination for AI development, aiming to leapfrog competitors.[10][9] This aggressive, high-spending approach has drawn some criticism, with OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman reportedly calling the tactics "distasteful," yet it appears to be effective in attracting top-tier talent.[3][14] The ongoing talent migration highlights that the battle for AI supremacy is being fought not just with code and data, but with a strategic and well-funded campaign to acquire the field's most brilliant minds.