Latest news with #JackRae
Hans India
5 days ago
- Business
- Hans India
Meta's Secret 'TBD Lab' Gears Up for Llama 4.5 to Challenge OpenAI's GPT-5
As OpenAI's GPT-5 captures global attention, Meta is quietly setting the stage for a fierce challenge in the artificial intelligence race. At the center of this push is a secretive new unit called TBD Lab, part of Meta's recently formed Superintelligence Labs (MSL), tasked with developing next-generation AI that could rival — or even surpass — its competition. According to a Wall Street Journal report, the initiative comes just weeks after Meta consolidated its AI efforts under MSL, with the bold ambition of giving 'personal superintelligence' to people worldwide. Leading the charge is Meta's newly appointed Chief AI Officer, Alexandr Wang, who joined after Meta invested $14 billion in his former company, Scale AI. While 'TBD' may stand for 'to be determined,' the lab's mission is clear — build AI that is smarter, faster, and capable of reasoning at near-human or superhuman levels. The crown jewel of this effort is the upcoming Llama 4.5 (also referred to internally as Llama 4.X), the next evolution of Meta's large language model. Overseeing the Llama revamp is Jack Rae, a high-profile hire from Google's DeepMind, who is working with both newly recruited AI experts and the original Llama engineering team. The objective is to significantly enhance reasoning skills, autonomy, and problem-solving capacity. In a memo to staff, Wang emphasized that TBD Lab will collaborate across Meta's AI divisions to 'roll out new model versions, bolster reasoning skills, and build autonomous AI agents.' He noted that early results in the past month have shown 'real, visible gains' from the integrated approach, enabling the team to 'be bolder, move faster and hit cutting-edge breakthroughs sooner.' Meta's recruitment strategy for the project has been aggressive. At least 18 employees have moved from OpenAI to Meta, alongside several former Google AI specialists such as Tong He and Yuanzhong Xu. Some new hires have been lured with long-term compensation packages valued at up to a billion dollars. The company has also reallocated internal talent. Nine members from a Meta infrastructure team recently joined TBD Lab after being approached by Thinking Machines Lab, a startup founded by ex-OpenAI executive Mira Murati. Meta quickly matched offers, adjusted pay, and reassigned them to the superintelligence program. Meta spokesperson Dave Arnold downplayed any suggestion that the moves were reactionary, stating that the team transfers 'were already on the books' and that salary adjustments 'would have happened regardless of who was trying to hire them.' CEO Mark Zuckerberg has framed superintelligence as a transformative technology that could unlock ideas and inventions 'we can't even picture today.' This reflects Meta's intent to not just compete with OpenAI but redefine what AI can achieve in the coming decade. While much about TBD Lab remains under wraps, its growing roster, ambitious goals, and strategic secrecy have made it one of the most closely watched projects in the AI world. Whether 'to be determined' eventually turns into 'mission accomplished' remains to be seen — but the race toward superintelligence has clearly entered a new and more intense phase.
Time of India
03-07-2025
- Science
- Time of India
Degrees of intelligence: Where Meta's top AGI scientists studied and why it matters
Where Meta's top AI scientists studied and why it matters. (AI generated image used for representational purposes) As the race for Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) intensifies, Mark Zuckerberg's Meta has launched a bold, founder-led moonshot: the Meta Superintelligence Lab (MSL). This elite group of technologists—poached from DeepMind, OpenAI, Anthropic and Google—represents some of the sharpest minds in AI today. The MSL is powered not just by capital and ambition, but by a team of formidable researchers whose educational journeys span continents and disciplines. Their academic backgrounds reveal much about the global talent ecosystem shaping the future of artificial general intelligence (AGI). Meta's recent hiring spree—snagging eleven standout researchers from the likes of DeepMind, OpenAI, Google and Anthropic—reinforces that high-impact AI today emerges from a fusion of rigorous theoretical grounding and interdisciplinary exposure. These are individuals whose universities and research environments have shaped breakthrough thinking in large language models (LLMs), multimodal reasoning and AI safety. Two themes emerge when examining where these scientists studied. First, most began their journey at world-class institutions in China or India before moving westward for graduate research or tech leadership. Second, the depth and range of their studies—spanning reasoning, speech integration, image generation, and AI alignment—reveal the interdisciplinary demands of building truly intelligent systems. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 5 Books Warren Buffett Wants You to Read In 2025 Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Undo Jack Rae: Grounding in CMU and UCL Jack Rae, recruited from DeepMind for his work on LLMs and long-term memory, studied at Carnegie Mellon University and University College London. Both institutions are renowned for AI and machine learning research. Rae's academic training in computing and cognitive science equipped him to develop memory-augmented neural architectures that embedded practical reasoning into LLMs—capabilities later adopted in models like Gemini. Pei Sun: Structured reasoning from Tsinghua to CMU Pei Sun, also from DeepMind, earned his undergraduate degree from Tsinghua University before moving to Carnegie Mellon University for graduate study. His rigorous grounding in maths and structured reasoning contributed directly to Google's Gemini project focused on logical reasoning and problem solving. Trapit Bansal: IIT Kanpur to UMass Amherst Trapit Bansal, formerly at OpenAI, holds a BTech in Computer Science from IIT Kanpur and completed graduate studies at UMass Amherst. He specialised in 'chain-of-thought' prompting and alignment, helping GPT-4 generate multi-step reasoning—an innovation that significantly advanced LLM coherence and reliability. He completed his BSc–MSc dual degree in Mathematics and Statistics at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur, graduating in 2012. Post-graduation, he worked briefly at Accenture Management Consulting (2012) and later as a Research Assistant at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru (2013–2015). Bansal then moved to the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he earned his MS in Computer Science in 2019 and PhD in 2021. During his doctoral years, he interned at Facebook (2016), OpenAI (2017), Google Research (2018), and Microsoft Research Montréal (2020)—building a rare interdisciplinary perspective across industry labs. He joined OpenAI in January 2022 as a Member of Technical Staff, contributing to GPT-4 and leading development on the internal 'o1' reasoning model. In June 2025, he transitioned to Meta Superintelligence Lab, one of the most high-profile hires in recent memory. Shengjia Zhao: Bridging Tsinghua and Stanford Shengjia Zhao, co-creator of both ChatGPT and GPT-4, also began at Tsinghua University and later joined Stanford for his PhD. His dual focus on model performance and safety helped lay the groundwork for GPT-4 as a reliable, multi-modal AI. Ji Lin: Optimisation from Tsinghua to MIT Ji Lin, an optimisation specialist contributing to GPT-4 scaling, studied at Tsinghua University before moving on to MIT. His expertise in model compression and efficiency is vital for making giant AI models manageable and deployable. Shuchao Bi: Speech-text expert at Zhejiang and UC Berkeley Shuchao Bi earned his undergraduate degree at Zhejiang University in China before pursuing graduate education at UC Berkeley. His work on speech-to-text integration informs vital voice capabilities in GPT-4 and other multi-modal systems. Jiahui Yu: Gemini vision from USTC to UIUC Jiahui Yu, whose expertise bridges both OpenAI and Google in Gemini vision and GPT-4 multimodal design, studied at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) before heading to UIUC—renowned for computer vision and graphics research. Hongyu Ren: Safety education from Peking to Stanford Hongyu Ren, an authority on robustness and safety in LLMs, earned his undergraduate degree at Peking University and completed graduate studies at Stanford, blending theoretical rigour with practical insight into model alignment. Huiwen Chang: Image generation from Tsinghua and Princeton Huiwen Chang, who worked on Muse and MaskIT systems while at Google, received his BEng from Tsinghua University and pursued graduate work at Princeton, where he focused on next-generation image generation. Johan Schalkwyk: Voice AI from Pretoria University Voice-AI veteran Johan Schalkwyk led Google Voice Search. He studied at University of Pretoria in South Africa, developing foundational technologies in speech recognition long before transitioning to Sesame AI and eventually MSL. Joel Pobar: Infrastructure from QUT Joel Pobar, formerly with Anthropic and now part of Meta's core team, studied at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Australia. His expertise in large AI infrastructure and PyTorch optimisation rounds out the team's ability to build at scale. Why it matters This constellation of academic backgrounds reveals key patterns. First, many team members started at elite institutions in China and India—Tsinghua, Peking, USTC, IIT Kanpur—before completing advanced study in North America or Europe. Such academic migration fosters the cross-pollination of ideas and technologies vital to AGI progress. Second, the diversity in specialisations—from chain-of-thought reasoning and speech-text fusion to alignment and infrastructure optimisation—reflects a holistic approach to AGI development. No single breakthrough will suffice; each educational trajectory contributes a crucial piece of the intelligence puzzle. Lastly, these researchers underscore the importance of rigorous mathematical and computational foundations. Their trajectories, marked by early excellence in computing and prime PhD programmes, highlight that AGI talent is born of sustained academic commitment—not overnight spark. For today's students, this means investing in strong undergrad programmes, targeting interdisciplinary research opportunities, and seeking environments that encourage open, foundational exploration. In aggregate, the educational pedigree of Meta's superintelligence team isn't mere résumé-padding. It's the backbone of a strategy to crack AGI—a challenge that demands not just technical acumen, but a global, theory-driven, collaborative mindset. Is your child ready for the careers of tomorrow? Enroll now and take advantage of our early bird offer! Spaces are limited.
Hindustan Times
12-06-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Mark Zuckerberg's Meta assembles AI dream team after poaching top talents from Google, Sesame
Meta Platforms Inc. has poached top engineers from leading tech firms, including Google and Sesame AI, as part of its new team focused on building advanced artificial intelligence systems. According to a Bloomberg report, Jack Rae, a senior researcher from Google DeepMind, is set to join Meta's newly formed 'superintelligence' group. Meta has also recruited Johan Schalkwyk, a machine learning expert from voice AI startup Sesame AI, as per sources familiar with the matter who requested anonymity. Apart from that, Alexandr Wang, CEO and co-founder of data labeling company Scale AI, is expected to be involved in the project. The 28-year-old, Scale CEO, is considered an influential figure in the AI space and has built strong connections in Washington. Meta is also reportedly close to finalising a multibillion-dollar investment in Scale AI, which could be announced this week. The initiative is part of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's larger strategy to compete with AI leaders like OpenAI and Google. He is hoping the newly assembled dream team will enhance Meta's AI tools—particularly its language model Llama 4. The aim is to help the company develop more powerful systems for speech recognition and personalized AI features, particularly artificial general intelligence (AGI). To attract top talent, Meta is offering generous compensation packages reportedly worth tens of millions of dollars over several years, including stock options. A Meta spokesperson declined to comment on the new hires, when reached out by Bloomberg. Jack Rae confirmed his departure from Google for Meta but did not provide further details. Schalkwyk has not responded to media requests. The news agency reported that Zuckerberg has personally reached out to potential recruits and even met with some at his homes in Lake Tahoe and Palo Alto. The company plans to bring together about 50 members for the new team, including a chief scientist to lead the group. 'There are very few people globally who can do those type of large AI trainings very, very efficiently,' said Vahan Petrosyan, co-founder of AI platform SuperAnnotate. 'For that reason, higher pay packages may make sense for companies like Meta.' However, not everyone is accepting Meta's offers. At least one top researcher from a major AI lab turned down Zuckerberg's proposal, according to a source. Meanwhile, competitors are also working to keep their top AI experts. Google has promoted Koray Kavukcuoglu, a leading figure in AI, to a new role as Chief AI Architect. In an internal memo, CEO Sundar Pichai said, 'Koray will help to accelerate how we bring our world-leading models into our products, with the goal of more seamless integration, faster iteration, and greater efficiency.' Google has not yet responded to requests for comment from Bloomberg yet. (Based on Bloomberg inputs)
The Star
12-06-2025
- Business
- The Star
Meta taps top researchers from Google, Sesame for new AI lab
Meta Platforms Inc has poached top engineers from multiple tech firms, including Alphabet Inc's Google, for a new team focused on achieving a more advanced form of AI called artificial general intelligence. Jack Rae, a principal researcher at Google DeepMind, is expected to join Meta's "superintelligence' team, according to multiple people familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity as the information is not public. Meta has also recruited Johan Schalkwyk, a machine learning lead at AI voice startup Sesame AI Inc, other people said. Alexandr Wang, co-founder and chief executive officer of Scale AI, is also expected to be part of the team after Meta finalizes a multibillion-dollar investment in the data labeling startup that could be announced as soon as this week, Bloomberg News has reported. The new group is part of an ambitious, and costly, effort by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to gain ground on rivals like Google and OpenAI after he was frustrated by the poor reception to the company's latest AI offering, Llama 4. Zuckerberg hopes the new hires can help improve Llama's models and build better AI tools for voice and personalization features. Meta and Zuckerberg are offering compensation packages worth tens of millions of dollars over several years, including equity, according to people familiar with the matter. A spokesperson for Meta declined to comment. Rae confirmed he's leaving Google for Meta, but declined to comment further. Schalkwyk did not respond to a request for comment. Zuckerberg has begun recruiting a brain trust of AI researchers and engineers, at times meeting with candidates at his homes in Lake Tahoe and Palo Alto, California, Bloomberg News first reported. Often, the CEO has reached out to potential hires directly, according to people familiar with the process. Meta aims to hire around 50 people for the new team, including a chief scientist to help oversee the group, one person said. The team is coming together as Meta is also nearing a deal to invest billions of dollars in Scale to bolster its AI efforts. Scale uses an army of contractors to label the data that tech firms such as Meta and OpenAI need to train and improve their AI models. Wang, Scale's 28-year-old CEO, is an influential figure in the industry who has cultivated close ties with some in Washington. Other employees from Scale are likely to join Meta's superintelligence team after the investment is finalised, according to a person familiar with the deal. The three pillars of AI development are chips, talent and data. Meta has lots of chips. The Scale partnership may help bolster its access to quality data. And with the power of its checkbook, Meta and Zuckerberg hope to make a bigger dent in the AI talent wars. "There are very few people globally who can do those type of large AI trainings very, very efficiently,' said Vahan Petrosyan, co-founder of SuperAnnotate, an AI data platform. For that reason, he said, higher pay packages may make sense for companies like Meta. Still, not everyone is jumping at Zuckerberg's recruitment push. At least one person at a leading AI research lab rejected a lucrative offer from Zuckerberg, according to a person familiar with the matter. Meanwhile, Meta's competitors are racing to retain top talent. Alphabet Inc's Google named Koray Kavukcuoglu, one of its top AI researchers, as its chief AI architect – a new senior vice president role that reports directly to chief executive officer Sundar Pichai, according to an internal memo obtained by Bloomberg News. Kavukcuoglu will continue to serve as the GenAI unit lead and chief technology officer of Google DeepMind, Pichai said in the memo, which was earlier reported by Semafor. "Koray will help to accelerate how we bring our world-leading models into our products, with the goal of more seamless integration, faster iteration, and greater efficiency,' Pichai said. Google didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. – Bloomberg
Japan Times
12-06-2025
- Business
- Japan Times
Meta taps top researchers from Google and Sesame for new AI lab
Meta has poached top engineers from multiple tech firms, including Google, for a new team focused on achieving a more advanced form of AI called artificial general intelligence. Jack Rae, a principal researcher at Google DeepMind, is expected to join Meta's "superintelligence' team, according to multiple people familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity as the information is not public. Meta has also recruited Johan Schalkwyk, a machine learning lead at AI voice startup Sesame, other people said. Alexandr Wang, co-founder and chief executive officer of Scale, is also expected to be part of the team after Meta finalizes a multibillion-dollar investment in the data labeling startup that could be announced as soon as this week. The new group is part of an ambitious, and costly, effort by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to gain ground on rivals like Google and OpenAI after he was frustrated by the poor reception to the company's latest AI offering, Llama 4. Zuckerberg hopes the new hires can help improve Llama's models and build better AI tools for voice and personalization features. Meta and Zuckerberg are offering compensation packages worth tens of millions of dollars over several years, including equity, according to people familiar with the matter. A spokesperson for Meta declined to comment. Rae confirmed he's leaving Google for Meta, but declined to comment further. Schalkwyk did not respond to a request for comment. Zuckerberg has begun recruiting a brain trust of AI researchers and engineers, at times meeting with candidates at his homes in Lake Tahoe and Palo Alto, California. Often, the CEO has reached out to potential hires directly, according to people familiar with the process. Meta aims to hire around 50 people for the new team, including a chief scientist to help oversee the group, one person said. The team is coming together as Meta is also nearing a deal to invest billions of dollars in Scale to bolster its AI efforts. Scale uses an army of contractors to label the data that tech firms such as Meta and OpenAI need to train and improve their AI models. Wang, Scale's 28-year-old CEO, is an influential figure in the industry who has cultivated close ties with some in Washington. Other employees from Scale are likely to join Meta's superintelligence team after the investment is finalized, according to a person familiar with the deal. The three pillars of AI development are chips, talent and data. Meta has lots of chips. The Scale partnership may help bolster its access to quality data. And with the power of its checkbook, Meta and Zuckerberg hope to make a bigger dent in the AI talent wars. "There are very few people globally who can do those type of large AI trainings very, very efficiently,' said Vahan Petrosyan, co-founder of SuperAnnotate, an AI data platform. For that reason, he said, higher pay packages may make sense for companies like Meta. Still, not everyone is jumping at Zuckerberg's recruitment push. At least one person at a leading AI research lab rejected a lucrative offer from Zuckerberg, according to a person familiar with the matter. Meanwhile, Meta's competitors are racing to retain top talent. Google named Koray Kavukcuoglu, one of its top AI researchers, as its chief AI architect — a new senior vice president role that reports directly to Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai, according to an internal memo. Kavukcuoglu will continue to serve as the GenAI unit lead and chief technology officer of Google DeepMind, Pichai said in the memo. "Koray will help to accelerate how we bring our world-leading models into our products, with the goal of more seamless integration, faster iteration, and greater efficiency,' Pichai said. Google didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
