Want smarter insights in your inbox? Sign up for our weekly newsletters to get only what matters to enterprise AI, data, and security leaders.<\/em> Subscribe Now<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Meta has appointed Shengjia Zhao<\/strong>, a former OpenAI researcher and co\u2011creator of GPT\u20114, as the Chief Scientist of its newly created Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL)<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The announcement was made Friday by Mark Zuckerberg on Threads, noting Zhao will lead the lab\u2019s scientific agenda alongside him and Alexandr\u202fWang, the former CEO of Scale AI who Meta recently brought onboard as Chief AI Officer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI am very excited to take up the role of chief scientist for meta super-intelligence labs. Looking forward to building asi [artificial superintelligence] and aligning it to empower people with the amazing team here. Let\u2019s build!\u201d<\/em> Zhao wrote in his own Threads post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cArtificial superintelligence\u201d is a nebulous term used in the AI industry to describe systems more powerful and capable than any today, beyond even the smartest humans, making them difficult to control. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The AI Impact Series Returns to San Francisco – August 5<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The next phase of AI is here – are you ready? Join leaders from Block, GSK, and SAP for an exclusive look at how autonomous agents are reshaping enterprise workflows – from real-time decision-making to end-to-end automation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Secure your spot now – space is limited: https:\/\/bit.ly\/3GuuPLF<\/p>\n\n\n\n Zhao, who previously worked at OpenAI, played a key role in the development of foundational models like GPT-4 and GPT-4o, according to arXiv system cards and research papers listing him as a co-author. He\u2019s also known for his academic work on generative models and fair representations, with widely cited papers in venues like NeurIPS, ICML, and ICLR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Zhao joins Meta amid a high-stakes hiring blitz across the AI industry. Over the past few months, Meta has poached researchers from OpenAI, Apple, Google, and Anthropic as part of a multibillion-dollar bet on superintelligence as CNN reported. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Meta recently invested $14.3 billion in Scale AI, acquiring a 49% stake and bringing on Wang to lead the superintelligence effort. Former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman also joined the team. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The company has reportedly offered compensation packages worth as much as $100 million to $300 million over four years<\/strong> to lure top AI talent, according to multiple reports. One claim from a rival AI startup founder alleged Meta offered $1.25 billion over four years<\/strong>\u2014approximately $312 million per year<\/strong>\u2014to a single candidate who declined. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Other insiders say Meta\u2019s most senior AI scientists may be receiving $10 million+ per year<\/strong>, while first-year comp for some new hires reportedly reached $100 million<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Zuckerberg has made no secret of his ambition to make Meta a leader in AI\u2019s next frontier, repeatedly stating that the company plans to \u201cinvest hundreds of billions of dollars into compute to build superintelligence\u201d using its own business-generated capital. <\/p>\n\n\n\n He said the Llama 4 rollout underscored the importance of elite talent: \u201cYou can have hundreds of thousands of GPUs, but if you don\u2019t have the right team developing the model, it doesn\u2019t matter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meta\u2019s fundamental AI research group (FAIR), still led by acclaimed scientist Yann LeCun, will remain separate from the new lab. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The creation of Meta Superintelligence Labs signals a more product- and mission-focused arm of Meta\u2019s AI efforts, centered on building and aligning ASI with human interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, Meta\u2019s push into superintelligence has come on the heels of a bumpy rollout of its latest open-source foundation models. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The company released its Llama 4 model family in April 2025, positioning it as a leap forward in multimodal reasoning and long-context understanding. But the release has struggled to gain traction amid the rise of powerful Chinese open-source rivals like DeepSeek and Qwen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Meta faced public criticism from researchers and developers who cited poor real-world performance, confusion around benchmark results, and inconsistent quality across deployments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Some accused the company of \u201cbenchmark gamesmanship\u201d and using unreleased optimized versions of Llama 4 to boost public perception\u2014a claim Meta has denied. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Internal sources blamed fast rollout timelines and bugs for the issues, but the episode has cast a shadow over Meta\u2019s generative AI credibility just as it embarks on its most ambitious effort yet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Jim Fan, a former Stanford colleague of Zhao and now Nvidia\u2019s Director of Robotics and Distinguished Scientist, offered his endorsement on X: \u201cShengjia is one of the brightest, humblest, and most passionate scientists I know. Very bullish on MSL!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The move underscores Meta\u2019s strategy of spending aggressively now to secure a dominant position in what it views as the next foundational technology platform \u2014 one that could eclipse the mobile internet. As Zuckerberg sees it, ASI isn\u2019t a moonshot \u2014 it\u2019s the next frontier, and Meta intends to lead.<\/p>\n Daily insights on business use cases with VB Daily<\/strong><\/p>\n If you want to impress your boss, VB Daily has you covered. We give you the inside scoop on what companies are doing with generative AI, from regulatory shifts to practical deployments, so you can share insights for maximum ROI.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\tThanks for subscribing. Check out more VB newsletters here.\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n An error occured.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>
\n\n\n\n
\n<\/div>Zhao\u2019s strong commercial AI background<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Aspirations of leading the AI frontier<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Making up for the mixed reception of Llama 4<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vb-news\/brand\/img\/vb-daily-phone.png\")
\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n