Meta

Meta lures AI leaders as Apple faces instability

Meta has hired two senior AI researchers from Apple, Mark Lee and Tom Gunter, as part of its ongoing effort to attract top talent in AI, according to Bloomberg.

Instead of staying within Apple’s ranks, both experts have joined Meta’s Superintelligence Labs, following Ruoming Pang, Apple’s former head of large language model development, whom Meta recently secured with a reported compensation package worth over $200 million.

Gunter, once a distinguished engineer at Apple, briefly worked for another AI firm before accepting Meta’s offer.

The moves reflect increasing instability inside Apple’s AI division, where leadership is reportedly exploring partnerships with external providers like OpenAI to power future Siri features rather than relying solely on in-house solutions.

Meta’s aggressive hiring strategy comes as CEO Mark Zuckerberg prioritises AI development, pledging substantial investment in talent and computing power to rival companies such as OpenAI and Google.

Some Apple employees have been presented with counteroffers, but these reportedly fail to match the scale of Meta’s packages.

Instead of slowing down, Meta appears determined to solidify its position as a leader in AI research, continuing to lure key experts away from competitors while Apple faces challenges retaining its top engineers.

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Meta faces fresh EU backlash over Digital Markets Act non-compliance

Meta is again under EU scrutiny after failing to fully comply with the bloc’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), despite a €200 million fine earlier this year.

The European Commission says Meta’s current ‘pay or consent’ model still falls short and could trigger further penalties. A formal warning is expected, with recurring fines likely if the company does not adjust its approach.

The DMA imposes strict rules on major tech platforms to reduce market dominance and protect digital fairness. While Meta claims its model meets legal standards, the Commission says progress has been minimal.

Over the past year, Meta has faced nearly €1 billion in EU fines, including €798 million for linking Facebook Marketplace to its central platform. The new case adds to years of tension over data practices and user consent.

The ‘pay or consent’ model offers users a choice between paying for privacy or accepting targeted ads. Regulators argue this does not meet the threshold for genuine consent and mirrors Meta’s past GDPR tactics.

Privacy advocates have long criticised Meta’s approach, saying users are left with no meaningful alternatives. Internal documents show Meta lobbied against privacy reforms and warned governments about reduced investment.

The Commission now holds greater power under the DMA than it did with GDPR, allowing for faster, centralised enforcement and fines of up to 10% of global turnover.

Apple has already been fined €500 million, and Google is also under investigation. The EU’s rapid action signals a stricter stance on platform accountability. The message for Meta and other tech giants is clear: partial compliance is no longer enough to avoid serious regulatory consequences.

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Meta unveils 5GW AI data centre plans

Meta has unveiled plans to build a 5GW data centre in Louisiana, part of a significant expansion of its AI infrastructure. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the Hyperion complex will cover an area nearly the size of Manhattan, with the first 1.5GW phase expected online in 2026.

The company is also constructing a 1GW cluster named Prometheus in US, Ohio, which combines Meta-owned infrastructure with leased systems. Both projects will use a mix of renewable and natural gas power, underlining Meta’s strategy to ramp up compute capacity rapidly.

Zuckerberg stated Meta would invest hundreds of billions of dollars into superintelligence development, supported by elite talent recruited from major rivals. He added that the new data centres would offer the highest compute-per-researcher in the industry.

Amidst growing demand, Meta recently sought $29 billion in financing and secured 1GW of renewable power. Yet the expansion has raised environmental concerns, with one data centre in Georgia reportedly consuming 10% of a county’s water supply.

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Meta opens audio lab to improve AI smart glasses

Meta has unveiled a £12 million audio research lab in Cambridge’s Ox‑Cam corridor, aimed at enhancing immersive sound for its Ray‑Ban Meta and upcoming Oakley Meta glasses. The facility includes advanced acoustic testing environments, motion‑tracked living spaces, and one of the world’s largest configurable reverberation chambers, enabling engineers to fine‑tune spatial audio through real‑world scenarios.

Designed to filter noise, focus on speech, and respond to head movement, the lab is developing adaptive audio intelligent enough to improve clarity in settings like busy streets or on public transport. Meta plans to integrate these features into its next generation of AR eyewear.

Officials say the lab represents a long‑term investment in UK engineering talent and bolsters the Oxford‑to‑Cambridge tech corridor. Meta’s global affairs lead and the Chancellor emphasised the significance of the investment, supported by a national £22 billion R&D strategy. This marks Meta’s largest overseas engineering base and reinforces its ambition to lead the global AI glasses market.

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Zuckerberg unveils Meta’s multi-gigawatt AI data clusters

Meta Platforms is building several of the world’s largest data centres to power its AI ambitions, with the first facility expected to go online in 2026.

Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg revealed on Threads that the site, called Prometheus, will be the first of multiple ‘titan clusters’ designed to support AI development instead of relying on existing infrastructure.

Frustrated by earlier AI efforts, Meta is investing heavily in talent and technology. The company has committed up to $72 billion towards AI and data centre expansion, while Zuckerberg has personally recruited high-profile figures from OpenAI, DeepMind, and Apple.

That includes appointing Scale AI’s Alexandr Wang as chief AI officer through a $14.3 billion stake deal and securing Ruoming Pang with a compensation package worth over $200 million.

The facilities under construction will have multi-gigawatt capacity, placing Meta ahead of rivals such as OpenAI and Oracle in the race for large-scale AI infrastructure.

One supercluster in Richland Parish, Louisiana, is said to cover an area nearly the size of Manhattan instead of smaller conventional data centre sites.

Zuckerberg confirmed that Meta is prepared to invest ‘hundreds of billions of dollars’ into building superintelligence capabilities, using revenue from its core advertising business on platforms like Facebook and Instagram to fund these projects instead of seeking external financing.

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Meta buys PlayAI to strengthen voice AI

Meta has acquired California-based startup PlayAI to strengthen its position in AI voice technology. PlayAI specialises in replicating human-like voices, offering Meta a route to enhance conversational AI features instead of relying solely on text-based systems.

According to reports, the PlayAI team will join Meta next week.

Although financial terms have not been disclosed, industry sources suggest the deal is worth tens of millions. Meta aims to use PlayAI’s expertise across its platforms, from social media apps to devices like Ray-Ban smart glasses.

The move is part of Meta’s push to keep pace with competitors like Google and OpenAI in the generative AI race.

Talent acquisition plays a key role in the strategy. By absorbing smaller, specialised teams like PlayAI’s, Meta focuses on integrating technology and expert staff instead of developing every capability in-house.

The PlayAI team will report directly to Meta’s AI leadership, underscoring the company’s focus on voice-driven interactions and metaverse experiences.

Bringing PlayAI’s voice replication tools into Meta’s ecosystem could lead to more realistic AI assistants and new creator tools for platforms like Instagram and Facebook.

However, the expansion of voice cloning raises ethical and privacy concerns that Meta must manage carefully, instead of risking user trust.

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Meta under pressure after small business loses thousands

A New Orleans bar owner lost $10,000 after cyber criminals hijacked her Facebook business account, highlighting the growing threat of online scams targeting small businesses. Despite efforts to recover the account, the company was locked out for weeks, disrupting sales.

The US-based scam involved a fake Meta support message that tricked the owner into giving hackers access to her page. Once inside, the attackers began running ads and draining funds from the business account linked to the platform.

Cyber fraud like this is increasingly common as small businesses rely more on social media to reach their customers. The incident has renewed calls for tech giants like Meta to implement stronger user protections and improve support for scam victims.

Meta says it has systems to detect and remove fraudulent activity, but did not respond directly to this case. Experts argue that current protections are insufficient, especially for small firms with fewer resources and little recourse after attacks.

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Meta offers $200 million to top AI talent as superintelligence race heats up

Meta has reportedly offered over $200 million in compensation to Ruoming Pang, a former senior AI engineer at Apple, as it escalates its bid to dominate the AI arms race.

The offer, which includes long-term stock incentives, far exceeded Apple’s willingness to match and is seen as one of Silicon Valley’s most aggressive poaching efforts.

The move is part of Meta’s broader campaign to build a world-class team under its new Meta Superintelligence Lab (MSL), which is focused on developing artificial general intelligence (AGI).

The division has already attracted prominent names, including ex-GitHub CEO Nat Friedman, AI investor Daniel Gross, and Scale AI co-founder Alexandr Wang, who joined as Chief AI Officer through a $14.3 billion stake deal.

Most compensation offers in the MSL reportedly rival CEO packages at global banks, but they are heavily performance-based and tied to long-term equity vesting.

Meta’s mix of base salary, signing bonuses, and high-value stock options is designed to attract and retain elite AI talent amid a fierce talent war with OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently claimed Meta has dangled bonuses up to $100 million to lure staff away, though he insists many stayed for cultural reasons.

Still, Meta has already hired more than 10 researchers from OpenAI and poached talent from Google DeepMind, including principal researcher Jack Rae.

The AI rivalry could come to a head as Altman and Zuckerberg meet at the Sun Valley conference this week.

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Sam Altman shrugs off Meta poaching, backs Trump, jabs at Musk

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman addressed multiple hot topics during the Sun Valley conference, including Meta’s aggressive recruitment of top AI researchers, his strained relationship with Elon Musk, and a surprising show of support for Donald Trump.

Altman downplayed Meta’s talent raids, saying he had not spoken to Mark Zuckerberg since the Meta CEO lured away three OpenAI researchers with a $100 million signing bonus. All three had worked at OpenAI’s Zurich office, which opened in 2024.

Despite the losses, Altman described the situation as ‘fine’ and ‘good’, suggesting OpenAI’s mission continues to retain top talent.

The OpenAI chief also took a subtle swipe at Meta’s smartglasses, saying he doesn’t like wearable tech and implying his company has no plans to follow suit.

On the topic of Elon Musk, Altman laughed off their rivalry, saying only that Musk’s bust-ups with everybody, and hinting at the long-running tension between the two former co-founders.

Perhaps most notably, Altman expressed disillusionment with the Democratic Party, saying he no longer feels represented by mainstream figures he once supported.

He praised Donald Trump’s focus on AI infrastructure. He even donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund — a gesture reflecting a broader shift among Silicon Valley leaders warming to Trump as his popularity rises.

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Meta hires Apple’s top AI executive amid tech talent war

Apple has lost a key AI executive to Meta, dealing a fresh blow to the tech giant’s internal AI ambitions.

Ruoming Pang, who led Apple’s foundation models team, is joining Meta’s newly formed superintelligence group, according to people familiar with the matter.

Meta reportedly offered Pang a lucrative package worth tens of millions annually, continuing its aggressive hiring streak.

The company, led by Mark Zuckerberg, has already brought in several high-profile AI experts from Scale AI, OpenAI, Anthropic and elsewhere, with Zuckerberg personally involved in recruitment efforts.

Pang’s team at Apple had been responsible for the core language models behind Apple Intelligence and Siri.

However, internal dissatisfaction has been mounting as the company considered shifting to third-party models, including from OpenAI and Anthropic.

That shift, combined with recent leadership changes and reduced responsibilities for Apple’s AI chief John Giannandrea, has weakened morale across the team.

Following Pang’s exit, the team will now be managed by Zhifeng Chen under a new multi-tier structure.

Several engineers are also reportedly planning to leave, raising concerns about Apple’s ability to retain AI talent as Meta increases its investment and influence in the race for advanced AI development.

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