Latest news with #TrapitBansal
Time of India
4 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
Who is Trapit Bansal, the Indian-origin ex-OpenAI engineer behind Meta's AI push?
Meta's latest high-profile AI hire has caught the tech world's attention—Trapit Bansal, the Indian-origin researcher who helped shape OpenAI 's foundational models, has joined Meta's newly formed Superintelligence team. Mark's push for aggressive hiring has caught the attention of people in Silicon Valley. For most parts, till now the AI industry has been driven by data but Meta has taken a different route of human intelligence to take on the big names that hold the monopoly. Key player in OpenAI's rise Trapit Bansal joined OpenAI in January 2022 as a member of technical staff. He played a pivotal role in developing the o1 model—OpenAI's first major leap in AI reasoning. Working closely with co-founder Ilya Sutskever, Bansal helped lay the groundwork for the company's long-term goals in building smarter, more adaptable AI. His departure in June 2025 comes at a crucial time for OpenAI, just as the company is refining its o3 model and facing pressure from competitors like DeepSeek's R1. Despite CEO Sam Altman's ambitious roadmap, Bansal has chosen to shift gears and join Meta's elite team. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 2025 年最紓壓的農場遊戲！無需安裝 東加：島嶼農場 立即播放 Undo Joining Meta's superintelligence team According to reports, Bansal is now part of Meta's ambitious Superintelligence initiative. The team, personally overseen by Mark Zuckerberg, aims to build the next frontier in artificial general intelligence. In a June 30 post on X, Bansal confirmed the move with a simple but bold message: 'Thrilled to be joining @Meta! Superintelligence is now in sight' While compensation details remain undisclosed, Zuckerberg has reportedly offered packages up to $100 million to recruit top-tier AI talent for this high-stakes effort. Academic excellence and career trajectory Bansal holds both a bachelor's and a master's degree in mathematics and statistics from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur, class of 2012. He later earned a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, specializing in meta-learning, deep learning, and natural language processing. Before joining OpenAI, Bansal interned at major tech companies including Google, Microsoft, and Facebook, gaining a wide perspective across Big Tech. Personal life As for his personal life, Trapit Bansal has kept it private. However, as per reports, he currently lives in San Francisco, California. He is married, has a child, and shares his home with a small Australian Labradoodle named Yuki. Despite being at the center of cutting-edge AI development, Bansal keeps his personal life relatively low-key and grounded. Thumb Image Source: Instagram/@yukilovechild
Time of India
5 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
From Kanpur to Meta: Tracking the meteroic rise of Indian-origin researcher Trapit Bansal; joins Zuckerberg's Superintelligence 11
OpenAI's high-profile IITian employee quits, to join Meta: Who is Indian-origin researcher Trapit Bansal? Trapit Bansal, an Indian-origin AI researcher and co-creator of OpenAI 's o-series models, has joined Meta as part of its newly launched Superintelligence Labs. A graduate of IIT Kanpur and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bansal's journey from academia to the forefront of global AI research underscores the rapid rise of Indian talent in Silicon Valley's competitive landscape. His move marks another high-profile departure from OpenAI to Meta, as Mark Zuckerberg intensifies efforts to dominate the race to artificial general intelligence (AGI). A stellar academic foundation Undergraduate: Bansal studied at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur. Postgraduate: He pursued research under Prof. Andrew McCallum at UMass Amherst, focusing on natural language processing (NLP), meta-learning, and reinforcement learning. Research Excellence: Best Paper Award at ICLR 2018 for work on meta-learning. Work featured in Wired, MIT Tech Review, and Business Insider. Contributed to competitive self-play research with OpenAI, showing how AI agents can acquire complex physical skills without reward engineering. Research career across the big four Bansal has built a rare résumé that includes stints at four of the most influential AI institutions globally: OpenAI (2022–2025): Member of Technical Staff. Helped launch the RL for reasoning initiative with co-founder Ilya Sutskever. Contributed to OpenAI's first reasoning model, o1. Microsoft Research (2020): Worked on self-supervised meta-learning for NLP. G oogle Research (2018) Focused on knowledge graph reasoning and deep learning. Facebook (Meta) (2016): Developed deep learning models for NLP in the Applied Machine Learning group. Joining Meta's superintelligence push Bansal joins Meta as one of 11 elite hires for its new Superintelligence Labs, led by Alexandr Wang of Scale AI and former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman. While his role remains undisclosed, Bansal's expertise in reasoning models positions him as a crucial asset in Meta's AGI ambitions. 'Thrilled to be joining @Meta! Superintelligence is now in sight,' Bansal wrote on X. Other notable hires include former OpenAI and Google talent such as Ji Lin, Hongyu Ren, and Huiwen Chang. The Bigger Picture: Meta's Billion-Dollar AI Gamble Mark Zuckerberg is personally driving Meta's AI transformation: Massive Spending: Meta spent over $14 billion to acquire a 49% stake in Scale AI, bringing in Wang to lead MSL. Aggressive Hiring: Reports suggest Meta offered bonuses up to $100 million to lure OpenAI engineers. Talent Exodus: OpenAI executives are scrambling to retain researchers, with Chief Research Officer Mark Chen describing the loss of staff as akin to a 'break-in'. Industry response: Mixed reactions While Meta's stock continues to climb, some experts question the sustainability of its strategy. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Giao dịch CFD với công nghệ và tốc độ tốt hơn IC Markets Đăng ký Undo 'There are some extreme downsides to going pure mercenary,' tech blogger Zvi Moshowitz told AFP. 'I don't expect it to work, but I suppose Llama will suck less.' Institutional investors are also wary. Baird strategist Ted Mortonson warned that Zuckerberg's unchecked spending could create long-term financial risks. A new era beckons Despite doubts, Meta's long-term vision for AI is clear: to develop systems that surpass human reasoning, potentially revolutionising how content, ads, and products are created and delivered.
Arab Times
9 hours ago
- Business
- Arab Times
Indian-origin OpenAI researcher joins Meta in latest AI talent shift
SAN FRANCISCO, July 1: In another high-profile departure from OpenAI, Indian-origin researcher Trapit Bansal has joined Meta, marking a significant shift in the competitive landscape of artificial intelligence talent. Bansal, a graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore, had been with OpenAI since 2022. During his tenure at the San Francisco-based AI powerhouse, he was instrumental in shaping the company's reinforcement learning research initiatives, working closely with co-founder Ilya Sutskever. He also played a pivotal role in the development of OpenAI's first reasoning model, known as o1. In a post shared on X (formerly Twitter), Bansal announced his transition to Meta, stating, 'Thrilled to be joining @Meta! Superintelligence is now in sight ????.' Though his exact position at Meta has not been disclosed, the post indicates he may be joining Meta's recently established Superintelligence Labs. The formation of Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL) was revealed earlier this week in an internal memo by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The new division is expected to oversee the company's most advanced AI research. It will be led by Scale AI founder and CEO Alexandr Wang, with former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman serving as co-lead. According to Bloomberg, Zuckerberg described Wang as 'the most impressive founder of his generation.' Bansal's departure comes shortly after another key OpenAI researcher, Lucas Beyer, also moved to join Meta's superintelligence team, highlighting an intensifying competition for AI talent among tech giants. Before joining OpenAI full-time, Bansal held research internships at Microsoft and Google. His academic credentials include a Master of Science in Mathematics and Statistics from IIT Kanpur, in addition to his research work at IISc. As Meta ramps up its efforts to develop cutting-edge AI systems, the addition of top researchers like Bansal underscores the company's growing ambitions in the field of artificial superintelligence.
Time of India
13 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
OpenAI's high-profile IITian employee quits, to join Meta: Who is Indian-origin researcher Trapit Bansal?
OpenAI's high-profile IITian employee quits, to join Meta: Who is Indian-origin researcher Trapit Bansal? OpenAI looses on another high-stakes AI talent, Indian-origin researcher Trapit Bansal has exited OpenAI to join Meta. Bansal, an alumnus of IIT Kanpur and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore, had been with OpenAI since 2022. During his time at the San Francisco-based company, he played a key role in laying the groundwork for its reinforcement learning research, working alongside co-founder Ilya Sutskever. He also contributed significantly to the development of OpenAI's first reasoning model, o1, according to a statement he shared on X (formerly Twitter). Before joining OpenAI full-time, Bansal completed research internships at tech giants Microsoft and Google. His academic background includes a Master of Science in Mathematics and Statistics from IIT Kanpur. In his recent X post announcing the move, Bansal wrote: 'Thrilled to be joining @Meta! Superintelligence is now in sight.' While his exact role remains undisclosed, his post suggests he may work within Meta's newly formed Superintelligence Labs. On Monday, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg introduced Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL) in an internal company memo. The group will oversee the company's advanced AI research and will be led by Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang. Former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman will co-lead the unit. According to Bloomberg, Zuckerberg referred to Wang as 'the most impressive founder of his generation.' Recently, OpenAI's top researcher Lucas Beyer also moved to join Meta's superintelligence team. Also read | Ex-OpenAI researcher who's joining Mark Zuckerberg's SuperIntelligence team says Sam Altman played everyone
Ammon
2 days ago
- Business
- Ammon
Meta reportedly hires four more researchers from OpenAI
Ammon News - Looks like Meta isn't done poaching talent from OpenAI. Earlier this week, TechCrunch reported that Meta had hired influential OpenAI researcher Trapit Bansal, and according to The Wall Street Journal, it also hired three other researchers from the company. Now The Information is reporting four more Meta hires from OpenAI: Researchers Shengjia Zhao, Jiahui Yu, Shuchao Bi, and Hongyu Ren. This hiring spree comes after the April launch of Meta's Llama 4 AI models, which reportedly did not perform as well as CEO Mark Zuckerberg had hoped. (The company was also criticized over the version of Llama that it used for a popular benchmark.) There's been some back-and-forth between the two companies, with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman suggesting that Meta was offering '$100 million signing bonuses' while adding that 'so far, none of our best people' have left. Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth then told employees that while senior leaders may have been offered that kind of money, 'the actual terms of the offer' were more complex than a simple one-time signing bonus.
