PhDs, elite lab experience, and AI brilliance: Mark Zuckerberg's secret recruitment list for superintelligence lab revealed
According to The Wall Street Journal , most names on The List hold PhDs from elite institutions like UC Berkeley and Carnegie Mellon, with stints at leading AI hubs such as OpenAI in San Francisco and Google DeepMind in London. Typically in their 20s or 30s, these researchers share a rarefied skill set—deep expertise in calculus, linear algebra, and probability theory—paired with the ability to tackle highly complex, computation-heavy problems.
Zuckerberg has been personally involved in the chase, diving into technical research papers and coordinating candidate outreach with two senior Meta executives via a group chat dubbed 'Recruiting Party.' Prospects are contacted through email, text, or WhatsApp, with priority given to those who have made significant contributions to AI breakthroughs. One recent Meta hire, passionate about algorithm design, perfectly fits this profile.
The AI research world is close-knit, with scientists networking in private Slack and Discord groups to exchange offers and sometimes leverage competing bids to increase their value. Sources confirm Meta has approached dozens of OpenAI researchers, heating up Silicon Valley's AI talent war. At the helm of Zuckerberg's superintelligence initiative is 28-year-old Alexandr Wang—founder of Scale AI and son of Chinese immigrant physicists—whose $14 billion deal with Meta marks one of the costliest hires in history. In response to Meta's recruitment drive, OpenAI has revamped its pay structure, with its CTO even issuing an open letter urging staff to resist Zuckerberg's offers. At one point, the company reportedly paused operations for almost a week.
Former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati also revealed that Zuckerberg offered engineers in her team multi-million-dollar packages—yet, remarkably, not a single one has accepted.
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