Meta Poaches Sixth AI Researcher from Apple, Intensifying AI Talent War

Meta poaches yet another AI researcher from Apple - 9to5Mac

Meta's hiring spree in Cupertino continues, as Bloomberg reports that the company has just hired away yet another researcher from Apple's AI team. Here are the details. When news broke that Meta had hired Ruoming Pang, Apple's lead at the foundation models team, many assumed he'd start taking a few of his closest colleagues with him. That quickly proved true, as Mark Zuckerberg's company kept on poaching Pang's teammates amid a multibillion-dollar hiring spree across Silicon Valley. Interestingly, just this week, news broke that Meta had frozen its hiring efforts. But it appears that the company is willing to make a few exceptions, as tonight, Bloomberg reported that it has hired Frank Chu, "who has led Apple AI teams focused on cloud infrastructure, training and search.' Chu, Meta's sixth AI hire from Apple in the last seven weeks, will join Meta's Superintelligence Labs, Zuckerberg's newly created star-packed AI division. Coincidentally, Meta's own AI structure is in the middle of its fourth reshaping in six months, to better accommodate its new stellar hirings and its broader vision for the future of AI. Its recent hiring freeze followed a Forbes report that claimed that Meta's culture and internal chaos were leading to deflections from its own AI teams. And while, it has almost stopped being news that Meta has poached yet another AI researcher from Apple, this latest latest defection adds to Apple's mounting challenges in this area, both internally and in the public perception that it is falling further behind. Just a few weeks ago, after fielding AI-related questions during Apple's Q3 2025 conference call, CEO Tim Cook called a company-wide meeting to address Apple's AI woes. At the time, he promised that Apple would "make the investment" to catch up on AI. Whether the company will actually manage to pull this off, remains to be seen. But the task certainly isn't getting any easier, with its brain drain showing no signs of slowing down. What's your take on Apple's predicament? Let us know in the comments.

Apple Loses Another Key AI Leader to Meta's Superintelligence Labs

Apple has had yet another AI executive poached by Meta, despite reports that the social networking company is slowing hiring (via Bloomberg). Frank Chu, one of Apple's team leaders focused on cloud infrastructure, training, and search, will join Meta's Superintelligence Labs, a division tasked with building advanced AI systems capable of performing at or beyond human-level intelligence. Chu was involved with managing Apple's cloud-based large language models (LLMs), and was also influential in developing search features for Siri and Apple's entertainment services. For Meta, Chu will work on a new team called MSL Infra, responsible for AI infrastructure development. Meta has spent billions of dollars on recruitment for its Superintelligence group in recent months, but the company is said to be slowing down hiring over concerns of an overheated market. The pause went into effect last week amid a broader restructuring of the group. Fears that investments in AI are moving too fast weren't helped by reports earlier this week that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told a group of journalists that he believes AI is in a bubble. There was a broader sell-off of U.S. technology stocks following the news. Apple has hemorrhaged around a dozen artificial intelligence staff to rivals since January. The exodus of staff from Apple's AI team over the last seven months has seen senior researchers leave variously for Meta, OpenAI, xAI, Cohere, and others. One of the most notable recent departures was Ruoming Pang, head of Apple's Foundational Models team, who joined Meta last month after being lured by CEO Mark Zuckerberg with a $200 million pay package. The talent drain coincides with Apple's struggle to update Siri by integrating LLMs. A chatbot-like version of the virtual assistant was one of the key Apple Intelligence features that Apple promoted at last year's WWWDC, but it has yet to arrive. Apple is said to be considering using third-party AI models for Siri rather than its in-house technology, following an executive restructuring. During Apple's recent earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company is "making good progress on a more personalized Siri" that is powered by Apple Intelligence, and he reiterated that the features will be available next year.

Meta recruits ex Apple cloud AI leader Frank Chu

Chu who led Apple AI teams in cloud training and search joins Meta despite a company wide hiring freeze with exceptions for AI talent Meta continues its recruitment efforts, securing another AI researcher from Apple, marking the sixth such acquisition in the past seven weeks. The latest individual to transition from Apple to Meta is Frank Chu, who previously spearheaded Apple AI teams concentrating on cloud infrastructure, training, and search functionalities. The initial movement occurred with Meta's recruitment of Ruoming Pang, who formerly held the position of lead at Apple's foundation models team. Following Pang's transition, speculation arose regarding the potential for additional Apple employees to follow suit and join Meta. These assumptions were quickly substantiated as Meta persistently recruited from Pang's former Apple colleagues. Meta's ongoing recruitment drive occurs even as the company implements a hiring freeze across various departments. Despite this overall freeze, exceptions are being made to facilitate the acquisition of specific talent, as demonstrated by the recruitment of Frank Chu. Chu will be integrated into Meta's Superintelligence Labs, a recently established AI division within the company. Meta partners with conservative figure on AI bias issues Meta's internal organizational structure for AI is currently undergoing its fourth restructuring in the last six months. These changes are intended to optimize the integration of newly acquired personnel and support the company's broader strategic objectives in the field of artificial intelligence. This restructuring takes place amidst reports of internal challenges within Meta's AI divisions. A Forbes report suggested that Meta's internal culture and organizational complexities have contributed to defections from its own AI teams. The series of AI researcher departures from Apple coincides with increasing concerns within Apple regarding its position in the AI sector. Following questions related to AI during Apple's Q3 2025 conference call, Apple CEO Tim Cook convened a company-wide meeting to address the company's challenges in the field. During this meeting, Cook pledged that Apple would "make the investment" necessary to strengthen its AI capabilities. The continued loss of AI talent to competitors like Meta presents an additional challenge to Apple's efforts to enhance its standing in the AI landscape.

Meta Hires Another Apple AI Leader Amid Headcount Freeze, Report Says

Meta Platforms (META) is reportedly hiring another senior AI executive from Apple (AAPL) for its Meta Superintelligence Labs division, where it is moving to freeze headcount. According to Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, the Facebook parent is hiring Frank Chu, who has led Apple AI teams focused on cloud infrastructure, training, and search. Chu is at least the sixth Apple employee working on AI models to defect to Meta. The most recent hire is Ruoming Pang, the head of the iPhone maker's AI models team, the report said. Bloomberg said Chu "helped manage the running of large language models on Apple cloud servers and oversaw some training of the software." He also worked on creating search functions for the Siri voice assistant and entertainment services, the report said. Apple and Meta didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. Apple shares, which entered Friday down 10% this year, are up slightly in morning trading. Meta shares are little changed.

Apple Loses Top AI Executive to Meta's Dream Team

Notably, Frank Chu's departure marks the sixth consecutive departure of an Apple employee to Meta in just seven weeks. This once again intensifies the rivalry between these two tech giants to dominate the AI landscape. Meta's once again poaching of an AI executive from Apple marks a stark contrast to the company's declared slow hiring strategy. Instead of open hiring, 's company targets established stars in the field and lures them with higher pay packages, which sometimes rise to 50 times higher than what they previously received. Previously, Meta hired Apple's models team lead, Ruoming Pang, and reportedly, the company offered him a . This hints at Meta's constant and desperate push to win over the artificial intelligence industry. The latest hiring, Frank Chu, joins the newly founded MSL infra team of Meta, which is created as a part of Zuckerberg's Superintelligence Labs. Reportedly, Chu used to manage the running of LLMs in Apple's cloud servers, and has experience in developing some features of Siri. Considering the responsibilities, he is the second largest departure from Apple after Ruoming Pang. This constant hiring of executives from top rivals underscores the importance of having experienced people to accomplish its goal and accelerate its advanced AI research.

Meta hires another Apple AI executive despite hiring slowdown

His move is considered one of the most significant due to his wide-ranging responsibilities at Apple. Meta is reportedly hiring another top AI executive from Apple, even as it slows overall recruitment. Frank Chu, who led Apple AI teams focused on cloud infrastructure, training and search, will be joining Meta's Superintelligence Labs (MSL), according to Bloomberg. Chu is following several of his Apple colleagues to Meta. His move is considered one of the most significant due to his wide-ranging responsibilities at Apple. At Apple, he helped manage large language models on Apple's cloud servers, oversaw some training of the software, and contributed to search features for Siri voice assistant and entertainment services. At Meta, Chu will be joining a new team called MSL Infra, which focuses on AI infrastructure. The hiring comes after Meta reorganised its AI team into four sections, all overseen by former Scale AI head Alexandr Wang. Also read: Google Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Pro, Pixel 10 Pro XL, Pixel 10 Pro Fold: India price, offers, availability and more details Despite bringing in Chu, the company is slowing its hiring. A recent memo to hiring managers, seen by Bloomberg, stated that Meta is "temporarily pausing hiring across all MSL teams, with the exception of business critical roles." It added that this will "allow leadership to thoughtfully plan our 2026 headcount growth, as we work through our strategy." "Alex's staff will evaluate any business critical hires on a case by case basis." Also read: Google Pixel 10 Pro vs Pixel 9 Pro: Price, camera, display, battery and more compared For Apple, the departure of Chu and other key AI staff adds to challenges in its AI division. The company has been playing catch-up with rivals and delayed a major Siri update. Apple is reportedly considering using third-party AI models for Siri instead of relying solely on in-house technology.