Meta Platforms Inc. has intensified its push to dominate artificial intelligence by offering unprecedented compensation packages to attract elite talent from rival tech companies.
The Menlo Park-based company has secured multiple high-profile hires for its new “superintelligence” unit with pay offers reportedly eclipsing $200 million per recruit.
According to sources familiar with the matter, Meta recently hired Ruoming Pang, a distinguished engineer who previously led Apple Inc.’s AI models team.
Pang’s compensation deal is valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars spread over several years, making it one of the largest known pay packages outside C-suite roles in major U.S. corporations.
Meta’s aggressive spending aims to position its superintelligence division, Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL), as a leader in the race to build artificial general intelligence capable of outperforming humans in complex tasks.
The team’s recent additions include former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman, AI startup founder Daniel Gross, and Scale AI co-founder Alexandr Wang, who was appointed Chief AI Officer after Meta acquired a 49% stake in his company worth $14.3 billion.
The packages are structured with a mix of base salary, signing bonuses, and significant equity in Meta stock.
Sources say the bulk of the value depends on strict performance targets, including minimum growth levels for Meta’s share price. The contracts often extend beyond the typical four-year vesting period to ensure retention.
Apple declined to match Meta’s offer to Pang, highlighting the scale of Meta’s financial commitment compared to standard pay for senior engineers at other major tech firms. Only Apple CEO Tim Cook’s total compensation historically approaches similar figures.
The high-stakes hiring spree has drawn attention from competitors. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently disclosed that Meta had offered signing bonuses of up to $100 million to lure his staff.
Despite this, Meta has successfully recruited more than ten OpenAI researchers and pulled in talent from Anthropic, Google, and other emerging AI companies.
Meta’s intensified recruitment drive follows CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s stated ambition to lead in AI development, as companies worldwide race to commercialize next-generation systems.
Industry observers say the scale of Meta’s pay offers rivals that of top Wall Street banks and exceeds many CEO compensation packages.
Neither Meta nor Apple provided comment on the compensation details. The offers underscore the escalating cost of securing talent in a sector where breakthrough technologies are widely expected to redefine global industries.
As talent battles escalate, Altman and Zuckerberg are expected to discuss the ongoing AI rivalry at the Allen & Co. conference in Sun Valley this week, a rare opportunity for both leaders to address the increasingly competitive landscape directly.
