Meta Appoints ChatGPT Co-Creator Shengjia Zhao Chief Scientist at Superintelligence Labs

Meta has aggressively expanded its AI research capabilities by appointing Shengjia Zhao, a co-creator of OpenAI's ChatGPT and GPT-4, as Chief Scientist of its newly formed Superintelligence Labs, signaling a major move to compete with OpenAI in the race for artificial general intelligence. Zhao will work directly with CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang, focusing on foundational models and breakthrough scaling paradigms separate from Meta's traditional FAIR research division. This hiring is part of a larger talent acquisition strategy, with Meta recruiting several prominent researchers from OpenAI and other leading AI centers, thereby intensifying the ongoing competition for top AI talent in Silicon Valley. Meta's CEO Zuckerberg has expressed ambitions to develop full general intelligence with transparency, though this has raised both optimism and concern among experts. Meanwhile, there are reports of Meta offering substantial compensation packages to lure OpenAI employees, though Meta disputes some of the more extreme figures, emphasizing their pay structure is significant but not as exaggerated. This strategic talent acquisition and investment underscore Meta's commitment to becoming a leading force in next-generation AI research.