Meta’s Zuckerberg recruits team for ‘Superintelligence’ AI push

Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg is personally spearheading the formation of a new AI research team aimed at developing artificial general intelligence (AGI), a technology capable of matching or surpassing human cognitive abilities, Bloomberg News reported Tuesday. 

The secretive group, internally dubbed the “superintelligence team,” is part of Meta’s aggressive bid to outpace rivals like OpenAI and Google in the global AI race.

Zuckerberg is hand-picking approximately 50 top AI researchers and engineers for the team, according to reports. 

He has hosted recruitment meetings at his homes in Palo Alto and Lake Tahoe, offering compensation packages ranging from seven to nine figures to attract elite talent. The team will work closely with Zuckerberg, with desks rearranged at Meta’s Menlo Park headquarters to seat members near him.

Meta is also planning a $10 billion investment in Scale AI, a startup specialising in data labeling and AI model training, with its founder Alexandr Wang expected to join the superintelligence team once the deal is finalised. This move underscores Meta’s strategy to bolster its AI capabilities through strategic partnerships and talent acquisition.

The superintelligence team aims to push beyond AGI toward “superintelligence,” a hypothetical AI that far exceeds human intellect in areas like problem-solving and creativity. 

Zuckerberg has pitched Meta’s strong advertising revenue as a financial advantage, allowing the company to fund ambitious AI development without external capital. He also highlighted plans for a massive new data centre to support future AI models.