Meta Poaches Apple's Top AI Executive in Talent War Escalation

Meta reportedly recruits Apple's head of AI models | TechCrunch

Apple's head of AI models, Ruoming Pang, is leaving the company to work at Meta, Bloomberg reported on Monday. This marks the latest high-ranking AI executive Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has scooped up to lead his new AI superintelligence unit. Pang previously ran Apple's in-house team that trained the AI foundation models that underpin Apple Intelligence and other on-device AI features, according to the report. Apple's AI models haven't exactly been a huge success -- they're far less capable than what OpenAI, Anthropic, and even Meta offer. Apple has reportedly even considered tapping third-party AI models to power its forthcoming AI-enabled Siri upgrade. Sources told Bloomberg that Pang's departure might be the first of many in Apple's troubled AI unit. Nevertheless, Pang could bring expertise in designing small, on-device AI models to Meta, joining an array of talent Zuckerberg has poached in recent months, including leaders from Google DeepMind, OpenAI, and Safe Superintelligence.

Apple Loses Its Top AI Models Executive to Meta's Hiring Spree

Apple Inc.'s top executive in charge of artificial intelligence models is leaving for Meta Platforms Inc., another setback in the iPhone maker's struggling AI efforts. Ruoming Pang, a distinguished engineer and manager in charge of the company's Apple foundation models team, is departing, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Pang, who joined Apple from Alphabet Inc. in 2021, is the latest big hire for Meta's new superintelligence team, said the people, who declined to be named discussing unannounced personnel moves.

Apple's top AI executive Ruoming Pang leaves for Meta, Bloomberg News reports

July 7 (Reuters) - Apple's (AAPL.O), opens new tab top executive in charge of artificial intelligence models, Ruoming Pang, is leaving the company for Meta Platforms (META.O), opens new tab, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing people with knowledge of the matter. Pang, manager in charge of the company's Apple foundation models team, will join Meta's new superintelligence team for a compensation package worth millions of dollars per year, the report added. Meta and Apple did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment. The development comes as tech giants such as Meta aggressively chase high-profile acquisitions and offer multi-million-dollar pay packages to attract top talent in the race to lead the next wave of AI. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has reorganized the company's AI efforts under a new division called Meta Superintelligence Labs, Reuters reported last week. The division will be headed by Alexandr Wang, former CEO of data labeling startup Scale AI. He will be the chief AI officer of the new initiative at the social media giant, according to a source. Last month, Meta invested in Scale AI in a deal that valued the data-labeling startup at $29 billion and brought in its 28-year-old CEO Wang. Reporting by Kritika Lamba in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab Suggested Topics:Artificial Intelligence

Apple Reportedly Loses Key AI Mind

The iPhone maker’s quiet AI ambitions just took a major hit as Meta doubles down on its war with OpenAI and Google. Apple has kept a low profile in the artificial intelligence arms race. But now, a major talent loss is raising fresh questions about whether the iPhone maker is falling behind. According to Bloomberg, Meta has hired Ruoming Pang, a high-level engineer who led Apple’s foundation models team. Pang, a former Google veteran and key architect behind the large language models (LLMs) powering Apple Intelligence, will now join Meta’s elite AI unit focused on building superintelligent systems. His exit is a significant blow for Apple, especially at a time when the company is trying to convince the public and developers that it’s serious about generative AI. He was in charge of the team of roughly 100 engineers building the foundational technology behind Apple Intelligence, the suite of AI features recently announced at the company’s WWDC event. On his LinkedIn page, Pang described his role as leading the team that develops the foundation models that power Apple Intelligence. Think of foundation models as the base engine for AI. These massive, complex models, also known as Large Language Models (LLMs), are trained on vast amounts of data and can be adapted to perform a wide range of tasks, from summarizing your emails to generating images. Pang's team was responsible for every aspect of these models, from the training framework (AXLearn) and inference optimization (making the AI run efficiently on your device) to its multi-modal capabilities (the ability to understand both text and images). Just last month, Pang celebrated his team's work in a LinkedIn post following Apple's developer conference. “At WWDC we introduce a new generation of LLMs developed to enhance the Apple Intelligence features," he wrote. "I'm very excited about the progress we have made since last year and would like to take this opportunity to thank our team and collaborators. It has been a true privilege to work with you all!†Pang joined Apple in 2021 after a 15 year career at Google. His departure now raises serious questions about Apple's ability to retain top talent as it tries to play catch up in the AI arms race. Meanwhile, Mark Zuckerberg and Meta are not just participating in the talent war; they are its most aggressive combatants. In a relentless push to build what he calls Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), or "superintelligence"â€"AI systems that can reason and think at or above human levelsâ€"Zuckerberg has been personally courting top researchers from across the industry. Meta is reportedly offering multi million dollar compensation packages to lure talent from rivals, particularly OpenAI. This "hiring spree" has seen Meta assemble a dream team of AI pioneers, including former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman and Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang. By convincing Pang to leave Apple, Zuckerberg has shown that no company is safe from his talent raid. The move comes at a vulnerable moment for Apple. The company has faced internal debate over whether to rely on its in house models or strike deeper partnerships with third parties like OpenAI for future versions of Siri. This uncertainty has reportedly impacted morale within the AI division, and Pang's exit could trigger a wider exodus of talent. For Apple, losing the mind behind its core AI models is a critical setback. For Meta, it’s another high profile victory in its audacious, high stakes quest to dominate the next era of computing. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Meta just hired Apple's head of foundation models - 9to5Mac

Apple's top executive overseeing its in-house AI models is leaving the company, and heading to Meta. As reported by Bloomberg, Ruoming Pang is bound to Menlo Park, and joining Mark Zuckerberg's all-star Meta Superintelligence Labs group, announced last week. Pang joined Apple from Google in 2021, and had been managing the roughly 100-person team behind the models that power Apple Intelligence features like Genmoji, Priority Notifications, and on-device text summarization. His exit marks yet another blow to Apple's efforts to build competitive AI models in-house. Pang is said to have received a multi-million-dollar annual offer from Meta, as part of Mark Zuckerberg's aggressive push to assemble a dream team of AI talent, and he wasn't the only hire reportedly confirmed today: "Meta on Monday also hired Yuanzhi Li, a researcher from OpenAI, and Anton Bakhtin, who worked on Claude at Anthropic PBC, according to other people with knowledge of the matter." Bloomberg notes that Pang's group had been central to Apple's plans for a next-gen Siri experience, even as internal debate reportedly mounted over whether to stick with its own models or embrace third-party options like OpenAI's or Anthropic's models. In recent months, Meta has brought in big names like Scale AI's Alexandr Wang, former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman, OpenAI's Yuanzhi Li, and Safe Superintelligence CEO Daniel Gross. Sources tell Bloomberg that Pang's departure might not be the last: "Pang's departure could be the start of a string of exits from the AFM group, with several engineers telling colleagues they are planning to leave in the near future to Meta or elsewhere, the people said. Tom Gunter, a top deputy to Pang, left Apple last month, Bloomberg reported at the time." The AFM team will now be led by Zhifeng Chen. Unlike the previous structure, where most engineers reported directly to Pang, the new hierarchy introduces a more distributed management structure, with multiple managers possibly including Chong Wang, Zirui Wang, Chung-Cheng Chiu, and Guoli Yin.

Apple Loses Key AI Executive to Meta's Multimillion-Dollar Hiring Spree

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been offering AI engineers massive pay packages to poach them from other companies, and a key Apple engineering manager has decided to take the deal, according to Bloomberg. Ruoming Pang, who manages Apple's foundation models team, is moving from Apple to Meta. He was in charge of a team with approximately 100 employees that work on Apple's large language models. Models developed by Pang's team are used for Apple Intelligence features like email summaries, Priority Notifications, and Genmoji. Meta lured Pang with a deal worth tens of millions of dollars per year. Meta has also scooped up AI experts from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Scale AI. Rumors suggest that Apple has been considering relying on technology from Anthropic or OpenAI for a future LLM version of Siri, rather than using the models it has been working on. Those discussions have reportedly impacted the morale of the foundation models team that Pang is leaving. Other engineers on the team are also mulling offers from other companies. Apple is struggling to catch up to competitors that have more advanced AI features, including Google and Samsung. Earlier this year, Apple delayed the Apple Intelligence Siri features that it had promised at WWDC 2024, and the delay led to a restructuring of its AI teams. Apple's AI efforts are now being overseen by Apple's software chief Craig Federighi and Mike Rockwell, who led Vision Pro development.

Meta poaches Apple Intelligence executive amid larger leadership restructure

Apple's internal leadership restructuring around AI and ML continues after Meta's industry-wide poaching program snipes a top executive from the Apple Intelligence team. Meta has been struggling to do anything impactful with its AI platform. It's another significant dud after the dramatic name change in pursuit of the still-fictional metaverse, and now the company is throwing money at the problem in hopes of catching up with the AI industry. Apple is the latest company affected by industry-wide poaching efforts from Meta. According to Bloomberg, the head of Apple's foundation models team, Ruoming Pang, has been poached by Meta with a significant pay package. The Foundation Model team will now be run by Zhifeng Chen, with multiple managers reporting to them. New managers in this structure allegedly include Chong Wang, Zirui Wang, Chung-Cheng Chiu, and Guoli Yin. The language of the article has the usual breathless excitement of yet another Apple executive departure -- painting a picture of woe and failure within the company. However, beyond the poaching from Meta via a pay package worth tens of millions of dollars per year, there's little more than hearsay from anonymous tipsters and speculation on the environment at Apple. There's a suggestion that Pang's departure could be a sign that Apple's AI teams could be on the brink of crumbling. People familiar with the matter suggest that Apple employees have even discussed leaving Apple at an indeterminate time for Meta or elsewhere. The language around a report on Tom Gunter's departure was similar. There's a suggestion that Apple has an AI brain drain that it can't salvage after repeated blunders. Meta is allegedly paying significantly more to AI engineers versus Apple. That, and there are rumors from more anonymous folk about disgruntled employees within the company. Apparently, Apple's discussions with Anthropic and OpenAI about bringing private and secure versions of their models to Private Cloud Compute sparked frustration within the company. There's some rumor, however unlikely, that Apple would even abandon Apple Intelligence as a Siri backend, which Pang's team was working on. As usual, it's the trademark doom cycle for Apple. Every departure, poaching, and disgruntled employee is somehow a sign of some kind of rot that's killing the fruit instead of the turnover expected at big companies. The reality is that there are thousands of employees at these tech companies. They're people with bills to pay, goals, hopes, and frustrations like everyone else. Apple is a terribly difficult environment to work in. While rewarding, it's secretive, and Apple has been known to not pay as much as competitors, hoping the merit of working for Apple is enough draw. Engineers, especially in the AI space, like having their work published. It's valuable and gives them bargaining powers in the dynamic workspace. Meta's pursuit of another possibly fictional technology, the so-called "AI Superintelligence," is a boon for engineers looking to rake in some well-deserved cash and recognition for their work. While Pang has been with Apple since 2022, previously at Alphabet, the company will surely push on without him and whoever else decides to take Meta's massive offers. Apple's approach to AI has been different from its competitors so far. Inwardly, there's surely some frustration at the reporting on how terrible Apple Intelligence apparently is, but outwardly, the company continues to push the narrative that it's running a different race. While Apple Intelligence improves with time, inevitably catching up with the other AI companies that have hit a reasoning ceiling, the company is giving users an abundance of options. Apple's power in AI and all technology isn't bound to a single entity within the company or a single technology like AI -- it's bound to the ecosystem of products and its ability to provide access to private and secure technologies. So, instead of getting on the doom cycle, let's celebrate the potential of what's going on with Apple and AI. Soon, we could get contextual Apple Intelligence, Siri powered by an LLM backend, and the ability to use third-party models via Private Cloud Compute.

Apple loses its top AI models executive to Meta's hiring spree

Apple Inc.'s top executive in charge of artificial intelligence models is leaving for Meta Platforms Inc., another setback in the iPhone maker's struggling AI efforts. Ruoming Pang, a distinguished engineer and manager in charge of the company's Apple foundation models team, is departing, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Pang, who joined Apple from Alphabet Inc. in 2021, is the latest big hire for Meta's new superintelligence team, said the people, who declined to be named discussing unannounced personnel moves. To secure Pang, Meta offered a package worth tens of millions of dollars per year, the people said. Meta Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg has been on a hiring spree, bringing on major AI leaders including Scale AI's Alexandr Wang, startup founder Daniel Gross and former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman with high compensation. Meta on Monday also hired Yuanzhi Li, a researcher from OpenAI, and Anton Bakhtin, who worked on Claude at Anthropic PBC, according to other people with knowledge of the matter. Meta declined to comment. Apple and Pang didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. At Apple, Pang had been running a roughly 100-person team responsible for the company's large language models, which underpin Apple Intelligence and other AI features on the company's devices. In June, Apple announced that those models would be opened up to third-party developers for the first time, allowing for a range of new iPhone and iPad apps. But internally, the foundation models team has come under scrutiny from new leadership, which is exploring the use of third-party models, including from either OpenAI or Anthropic, to power a new version of Siri. Those internal discussions have soured some of the morale on the foundation models team, also known as AFM, in recent weeks. Read More: Apple Weighs Using Outside AI to Power Siri in Major Shift While the company has explored a move to a third-party solution to power the AI in the new Siri, it has simultaneously been working on a new version of Siri based on the models developed by Pang's group. Those models also power Apple Intelligence features that run on Apple devices including email and web article summaries, Genmoji and Priority Notifications. The major departure, the most significant in Apple's AI ranks since the company started working on Apple Intelligence a few years ago, underscores the heightened competition for talent in the emerging space. Meta has been making offers to the world's top engineers worth many millions of dollars per year -- significantly more than what the iPhone maker pays its engineers doing similar work. Pang's departure could be the start of a string of exits from the AFM group, with several engineers telling colleagues they are planning to leave in the near future to Meta or elsewhere, the people said. Tom Gunter, a top deputy to Pang, left Apple last month, Bloomberg reported at the time. The foundation models team reports to Daphne Luong, a top deputy to AI senior vice president John Giannandrea. Earlier this year, Giannandrea was sidelined internally and saw Siri, robotics, Core ML frameworks and other consumer product-related teams stripped from his command. That came after a poor response to Apple Intelligence and frequent delays for new Siri features. With Pang's departure, the AFM team will now be run by Zhifeng Chen. In a change from a structure under Pang where most of the engineers reported to him directly, there will be a new organizational layout that includes multiple managers reporting to Chen, who will then have engineers reporting to them. People close to the team indicate that Chong Wang, Zirui Wang, Chung-Cheng Chiu and Guoli Yin could be possible managers in the new structure. Read More: Meta Adds Startup Founder Gross to New AI Superintelligence Lab Apple's AI strategy is now run primarily by Craig Federighi, Apple's head of software engineering, and Mike Rockwell, who helped create the Apple Vision Pro headset and now leads engineering for Siri. For his part, Giannandrea is in charge of Apple's AI research arm. In June, at its Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple's own AI only got a small showing, appearing in new features for translating calls and text messages. The few other AI features, including analysis of on-device screenshots and improved image generation, came courtesy of partners, including OpenAI and Google. The company also rolled out a new version of Xcode that can handle code completion by tapping into Claude and ChatGPT.

Apple's Top AI Exec Leaves For Meta Amid Aggressive Hiring Trend - Decrypt

Meta continues to aggressively recruit top AI talent, fueling concerns about sustainability and widening the talent gap with competitors. Apple's head of foundation models, Ruoming Pang, has reportedly left the company to join Meta's Superintelligence Labs, adding to a growing list of high-profile names allegedly poached to bolster Meta's AI ambitions. While Meta formally announced the creation of its Superintelligence Labs in an internal memo last week, Pang's name was not included on the list. His exit from Apple was first reported by Bloomberg on Monday, citing sources familiar with the matter. The departure deals a significant blow to Apple's AI ambitions. Pang managed a team of approximately 100 engineers developing the core language models that power Apple Intelligence features, including on-device summarization, Genmoji, and Priority Notifications. Pang's exit follows that of Tom Gunter, his top deputy, who left the previous month. Pang's move comes less than a month after Meta acquired a 49% stake in Scale AI for $14.3 billion, bringing the latter's CEO onto its team to lead the Superintelligence Lab. That move upped Scale AI's valuation to $29 billion and is regarded as Meta's second-largest single investment after its $19 billion acquisition of WhatsApp in 2014. Meta has faced criticism for inflating market rates through unusually large signing offers to secure top researchers following reports that emerged as early as April last year on its rapid hiring spree of talent from firms like OpenAI and Google. While the Facebook parent continues to consolidate top AI talent, Apple appears to be losing ground. Pang's departure comes just weeks after Apple announced its long‑awaited generative features during its developer conference this year, many of which relied on partnerships with OpenAI. Internally, multiple Apple teams have reportedly voiced concerns about a lack of clear strategic direction and the company's growing dependence on integrations rather than in-house AI breakthroughs. "Meta's hiring strategy is a textbook reverse acqui-hire -- surgically extracting its competitors' core intellectual capital, their secret sauce, to cement its future in the AI race," Jeth Ang, chief operating officer at a16z-backed modular on-chain platform Sovrun, told Decrypt. While Meta's approach may score headlines, it also raises deeper questions about long-term sustainability. "The real question is whether this aggressive, over-indexing on superstar talent will ultimately cultivate the stable, innovative culture needed to win the marathon to AGI," Ang said, adding that this could spell "a high-risk pivot that will be difficult to sustain." Losing Pang also feeds into a broader perception problem Apple has yet to shake, Ang argues. In terms of generative AI at Apple, there's a "widespread perception" that Apple appears to be "playing from behind," Ang explained. "Even Siri is seemingly looking like a big fumble," he said. Apple's AI development has seemingly "created a vacuum that the market has filled with skepticism," Ang argued. "While the departure of a single executive doesn't cripple a program of Apple's scale, it certainly doesn't build confidence. For a company that has historically defined technology waves, losing top-tier AI talent to a direct competitor reinforces a narrative that they are struggling to change," Ang said.

Apple AI head Ruoming Pang joins Meta as Zuckerberg boosts superintelligence team

Apple's AI lead, Ruoming Pang, has departed for Meta to join their 'Superintelligence' team for a significantly higher salary. This loss comes as Apple's internal AI team faces challenges, including debates over using third-party AI and engineer departures. Meta, under Zuckerberg, is aggressively recruiting AI talent and investing heavily in the field, signaling a major shift in the AI landscape. Ruoming Pang, Apple's top executive in charge of AI foundation models, is leaving Apple to join Meta. Pang joined Apple in 2021 from Alphabet Inc. and led the team behind Apple's foundation models that power Apple Intelligence and AI features, as stated by the reports. He's now moving to Meta's new "Superintelligence" team, where he'll earn tens of millions of dollars per year, according to Bloomberg's sources. This move is a big loss for Apple, whose internal AI team, called AFM - Apple Foundation Models, has been under pressure lately, according to the reports. At Meta, Pang will be part of Mark Zuckerberg's top AI initiative called Meta Superintelligence Labs. Meta recently reorganized its AI teams under this division and hired Alexandr Wang, former CEO of Scale AI, as Chief AI Officer, as per Reuters. ALSO READ: VA halts major staff layoffs: How veterans affairs protects jobs and improves veteran care under Trump administration Meta is going all-in on AI and has invested billions, including a big deal last month that valued Scale AI at $29 billion. Zuckerberg is personally recruiting AI talent, often hosting candidates at his homes in Silicon Valley and Lake Tahoe, Bloomberg reported. Other big names hired by Meta include Daniel Gross (startup founder), Nat Friedman (ex-GitHub CEO), Yuanzhi Li (from OpenAI), and Anton Bakhtin (worked on Claude at Anthropic), according to the report by Bloomberg. Pang's departure adds to Apple's AI leadership challenges. The company is debating using third-party AI models like OpenAI or Anthropic for the next-gen Siri. This shift has hurt morale in Pang's team. Some engineers are planning to leave Apple, and Tom Gunter, Pang's deputy, already left last month as per the reports. The AFM team, with ~100 people, built models for things like Genmoji, Priority Notifications, and summaries of emails/webpages.The team will now be led by Zhifeng Chen, and Apple is changing the structure to add more managers like Chong Wang, Zirui Wang, Chung-Cheng Chiu, and Guoli Yin, as mentioned in the report by Bloomberg. ALSO READ: Amazon Prime day 2025: Best deals, shopping tips, dates, and how to save big this year Apple's AI strategy is now mainly handled by Craig Federighi (Software Chief), Mike Rockwell (Vision Pro engineer, now leading Siri) , and John Giannandrea (leads AI research, but his role has been reduced). Apple's WWDC in June showed only a few AI updates, like AI call translation and text message summaries. Most of the major AI features came from partners like OpenAI and Google, not Apple's own models. Apple also updated Xcode to support code completion using ChatGPT and Claude, as per the report by Bloomberg. Q1. Why did Ruoming Pang leave Apple for Meta? Ruoming Pang left Apple to join Meta's AI team for a much higher pay and bigger role in advanced AI work. Q2. What is Meta Superintelligence Labs? Meta Superintelligence Labs is Mark Zuckerberg's new AI division focused on building powerful, human-level AI systems.

Mark Zuckerberg's Meta Lures Away Apple AI Chief Ruoming Pang With Tens-Of-Millions Compensation Package: Report - Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)

Ruoming Pang, the AI model lead at Apple Inc. AAPL, is reportedly leaving to join Mark Zuckerberg's Meta Platforms Inc. META. What Happened: Pang, who was leading Apple's AI model team responsible for training Cupertino's foundational models, is the latest hire to escalate Meta's suprintelligence efforts, reported Bloomberg on Monday, citing people with knowledge of the matter. Meta proposed a compensation package valued at tens of millions of dollars annually to ensure Pang joins the Facebook parent. At Apple, Zhifeng Chen will take over his responsibilities. See Also: Jensen Huang Gave $12.6 Million To Charity, Then Nvidia's Stock Made It Billions On the same day, Meta also brought on board Yuanzhi Li, a researcher from OpenAI, and Anton Bakhtin, formerly of Claude at Anthropic PBC, the report added, citing people with knowledge. Apple and Meta did not immediately respond to Benzinga's request for comments. Subscribe to the Benzinga Tech Trends newsletter to get all the latest tech developments delivered to your inbox. Why It's Important: The latest move by Meta is another in the series of pushes the company is taking to expand its superintelligence unit. Last month, Zuckerberg's company also brought Scale AI's Alexandr Wang, startup founder Daniel Gross and former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman on board with lucrative compensation packages. Previously, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed that Meta has been approaching several people at ChatGPT-parent, luring them with substantial offers. However, he said that none of the startup's top talent took these offers. Price Action: Meta shares edged up 0.014% in after-hours trading, while Apple shares slipped 0.46% during the same period, according to Benzinga Pro data. Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings show that META maintains a solid upward trend across the short, medium and long term. Its growth score remains strong, though its value rating is comparatively lower. You can find more detailed performance data here. Photo Courtesy: Skorzewiak on Shutterstock.com Check out more of Benzinga's Consumer Tech coverage by following this link. Read Next: Amazon Loses Top AI Leader In High-Stakes Talent Shuffle METAMeta Platforms Inc$718.45-0.08%Stock Score Locked: Want to See it? Benzinga Rankings give you vital metrics on any stock - anytime. Reveal Full ScoreEdge RankingsMomentum84.83Growth91.99Quality86.34Value26.09Price TrendShortMediumLongOverviewAAPLApple Inc$208.98-2.14%Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

Apple loses top AI models executive to Meta's hiring spree

Apple's top executive in charge of artificial intelligence models is leaving for Meta Platforms, another setback in the iPhone maker's struggling AI efforts. Ruoming Pang, a distinguished engineer and manager in charge of the company's Apple foundation models team, is departing, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Pang, who joined Apple from Alphabet in 2021, is the latest big hire for Meta's new superintelligence team, said the people, who declined to be named discussing unannounced personnel moves. To secure Pang, Meta offered a package worth tens of millions of dollars per year, the people said. Meta Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg has been on a hiring spree, bringing on major AI leaders including Scale AI's Alexandr Wang, startup founder Daniel Gross and former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman with high compensation.

Meta reportedly snatches Apple's AI head as tech talent war heats up

With Pang's exit, Zhifeng Chen will lead the AFM team under a new management structure. In a major shake-up in the tech industry's AI talent race, Meta has reportedly hired Ruoming Pang, Apple's top executive in charge of its AI foundation models. Pang's exit marks a significant setback for Apple's AI ambitions, especially as the company pushes to keep pace with rivals like OpenAI, Google and Meta. According to Bloomberg, Meta has offered Pang a package worth tens of millions of dollars annually to lure him away. At Apple, Pang led a team of around 100 people focused on developing the company's large language models, which power Apple Intelligence and various AI features. His team also worked on the AI models meant to power the new version of Siri. Pang will be joining several other big names at Meta, including Alexandr Wang from Scale AI, former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman, and OpenAI and Anthropic researchers. His departure may signal the beginning of a wave of exits from the AFM group, as several engineers have reportedly informed colleagues of their plans to leave soon. Also read: Apple fights back against $580 million EU penalty, calls it unlawful: Here's why This high-profile exit, the most notable within Apple's AI team since work began on Apple Intelligence a few years ago, highlights the battle for top talent in the rapidly growing AI sector. Meta has been aggressively hiring leading engineers with offers reportedly worth several million dollars annually, far surpassing the compensation Apple provides for similar roles. Also read: Google Veo 3 is now available in India: Here's how you can use it With Pang's exit, Zhifeng Chen will lead the AFM team under a new management structure, according to the report. Apple's broader AI strategy is now largely overseen by Craig Federighi, the company's software engineering chief, and Mike Rockwell, who helped create the Apple Vision Pro headset and currently heads engineering for Siri.