Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has hired three researchers from OpenAI to join his new "superintelligence" team, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. This development follows recent allegations by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who claimed that Meta has been attempting to lure away key employees from his company. An OpenAI spokesperson confirmed the departures but did not provide additional information. The researchers—Lucas Beyer, Alexander Kolesnikov, and Xiaohua Zhai—were previously working at OpenAI’s Zurich office. Their move highlights the growing competition among tech giants in the race to dominate the AI landscape.

The term "superintelligence" refers to a future form of artificial intelligence that would surpass human abilities in all domains. Although such advanced AI systems do not yet exist, they are considered the next step beyond artificial general intelligence (AGI), which is itself still theoretical. AGI would be capable of performing a wide variety of tasks at human-level proficiency, but experts believe its realization is still decades away.

According to the report, Zuckerberg has personally taken charge of the global search for AI talent, directly contacting researchers and entrepreneurs through emails and WhatsApp messages. His hands-on approach comes amid a wave of aggressive recruitment efforts. Last week, Sam Altman alleged that Meta had offered OpenAI employees bonuses as high as $100 million in an attempt to attract them—claims that underscore the escalating battle for top AI minds. In response, OpenAI has reportedly made significant counteroffers to keep its core team intact. Despite its early reputation as a leader in open-source AI, Meta has faced internal challenges, including delays in product launches and a series of employee exits. Altman noted that he believes Meta views OpenAI as its primary competitor in the field.

In another major move, Meta recently brought on Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang to contribute to its superintelligence efforts. The company has also acquired a 49% stake in Scale AI for $14.3 billion. Scale AI is known for its expertise in data labeling—an essential process in training large AI models. Through these strategic hires and partnerships, Meta is signaling its intent to compete seriously in the development of artificial general intelligence and beyond, despite the technical and ethical hurdles that still lie ahead.