Meta’s Bold Move: Hires 3 OpenAI Researchers for AI Push

Key Points

• Meta hires Lucas Beyer, Alexander Kolesnikov, and Xiaohua Zhai from OpenAI
• Part of Zuckerberg’s aggressive superintelligence strategy
• OpenAI CEO accuses Meta of $100M poaching attempts
• Meta also partners with Scale AI in $14.3 mega deal

Meta has just turned up the heat in the global race for artificial intelligence dominance. In a high-stakes hiring move, the tech giant has recruited three top OpenAI researchers—Lucas Beyer, Alexander Kolesnikov, and Xiaohua Zhai—according to a new report by The Wall Street Journal.

The trio, previously based in OpenAI’s Zurich office, will now work under Meta’s ambitious “superintelligence” program, which aims to build AI systems that surpass human intelligence.

Their exit comes just days after OpenAI CEO Sam Altman accused Meta of trying to poach his team by offering massive bonuses—up to $100 million—to key personnel.

Scoop: Meta has poached three OpenAI researchers: Lucas Beyer, Alexander Kolesnikov and Xiaohua Zhai, according to people familiar with the matter.

An OpenAI spox confirmed the three have left the company. pic.twitter.com/TeoZa2VryZ

— Meghan Bobrowsky (@MeghanBobrowsky) June 26, 2025

While an OpenAI spokesperson confirmed the researchers’ departure, no further details were shared. However, industry insiders say this could be the beginning of an aggressive talent tug-of-war between AI’s biggest players.

This revelation follows Meta’s ongoing push to reshape itself as a leader in artificial general intelligence (AGI)—the next big leap in AI, where machines match or outperform humans across all tasks.

This move also aligns with Meta’s broader AI investment plans, which include both talent acquisition and infrastructure scale-up.

Zuckerberg goes all in on superintelligence

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg isn’t just observing the AI revolution—he’s leading it from the front. Reports suggest that he’s been directly reaching out to top global AI experts through personal emails and WhatsApp messages. His goal: to build a powerhouse team that can challenge OpenAI and Google’s AI dominance.

Last week, Altman publicly accused Meta of trying to lure his employees with $100 million bonuses. In response, OpenAI reportedly made strong counteroffers to retain critical staff.

🚨 Breaking: Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta has poached three OpenAI researchers to join its superintelligence team.
Lucas Beyer, Alexander Kolesnikov, and Xiaohua Zhai all of whom were working at OpenAI’s Zurich office.
~WSJ

Looks like 100M is hard to ignore 🤷
Just a few days ago, Sam… pic.twitter.com/pGPb2EtClm

— AshutoshShrivastava (@ai_for_success) June 26, 2025

The tension highlights a growing competition in Silicon Valley’s AI ecosystem—one driven by not just innovation, but also aggressive recruitment.

This bold talent grab is not Meta’s only move. The company has also acquired a 49% stake in Scale AI, a leading data labeling firm, for a whopping $14.3 billion. In addition, Meta onboarded Scale AI’s 28-year-old CEO, Alexandr Wang, to assist with its superintelligence goals.

These developments indicate a clear pivot. Once a key player in open-source AI, Meta had recently fallen behind due to staff exits and slow progress. Now, it’s back in the game—and playing to win.

🚨BREAKING: META POACHES 3 OPENAI RESEARCHERS

Zucc successfully hired:
> Lucas Beyer
> Alexander Kolesnikov
> Xiaohua Zhai

zucc will absolutely mogg @sama LMAO pic.twitter.com/HvSqMCg2Va

— NIK (@ns123abc) June 26, 2025

What is Meta’s “Superintelligence” goal?

Superintelligence refers to a type of AI that can perform better than humans in every cognitive task. This is far beyond today’s systems like ChatGPT, which, while powerful, are still narrow in scope. Superintelligence would mark a leap beyond artificial general intelligence (AGI), which itself has not yet been achieved.

Global efforts are intensifying around AI innovation. From Germany’s AI-powered cloud infrastructure to HarmonyOS 6’s agent-driven ecosystem, countries and companies alike are doubling down. Meta believes that by gathering elite researchers and massive data infrastructure, it can make significant strides toward building these systems.

With rising concerns about AI’s impact, such as ChatGPT’s water usage, the focus on building efficient, ethical, and scalable AI systems is sharper than ever.

The road to AGI

AGI represents a machine’s ability to think, reason, and learn across a broad range of tasks, similar to how humans operate. Experts agree it’s a long way off—but when achieved, it could be transformative.

While companies like Salesforce are working to fix critical blind spots in AI systems with AgentForce 3, Meta’s recent hires and partnerships signal a strategic pivot to build an AI-first company.

Whether it can beat OpenAI or Google to AGI remains uncertain, but one thing is clear: the race is on, and Meta just made a major play.