Meta recruits Apple AI chief in high-stakes talent battle

Meta Platforms has made a bold move in the escalating race for artificial intelligence (AI) dominance by hiring Ruoming Pang, one of Apple's top artificial intelligence leaders, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

Pang, who led Apple's foundation model team for AI and machine learning, will join Meta's recently launched Superintelligence Labs unit. His recruitment reportedly came with a compensation package worth tens of millions of dollars.

The hire marks Meta's latest effort to assemble a world-class AI team, following a $14 billion investment in Scale AI and the addition of notable tech leaders such as Scale chief executive Alexandr Wang and former GitHub chief executive Nat Friedman.

Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg is reportedly offering compensation packages of up to $100 million to secure top talent from competitors.

Pang's exit reflects broader challenges within Apple's AI strategy. While he oversaw a 100-person team working on large language models for Apple Intelligence and other tools, the company has recently reorganized its AI leadership and is exploring third-party model integration for Siri.

Analysts at Evercore ISI see Apple's shift as a pragmatic, cost-conscious approach that preserves flexibility in a rapidly evolving AI landscape.

Analysts like Wells Fargo's Ken Gawrelski view Meta's aggressive AI investments as justified, given its $1.81 trillion market cap. He maintains a Buy rating with a $783 price target on Meta stock.The recruitment underscores Meta's determination to lead the AI era and signals continued disruption in the talent pipeline among Big Tech rivals.