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Thinking Machines Lab Co-Founder Barret Zoph Joins Google DeepMind

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Barret Zoph, co-founder of artificial intelligence startup Thinking Machines Lab, is joining Google DeepMind as Vice President of Research.

Zoph previously served as Vice President of Research at OpenAI and briefly returned to the company after leaving Thinking Machines earlier this year, according to his LinkedIn profile.

The move marks a return to Google for Zoph, who spent about six years as a research scientist at Google Brain. That organization was later merged with DeepMind in 2023 to form Google DeepMind.

His appointment comes amid a broader restructuring of Alphabet’s artificial intelligence operations. DeepMind has recently undergone several leadership and organizational changes as Google reshapes how its AI research teams are managed.

The latest reshuffle has included some teams moving from DeepMind into the broader Google organization, while senior leadership roles have also changed.

Zoph’s return adds another experienced AI researcher to Google as competition for top technical talent intensifies among major technology companies and leading AI laboratories.

Meta Launches ‘Superintelligence Labs’ to Revive AI Strategy Amid Fierce Competition

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Meta is restructuring its artificial intelligence efforts under a new division called Meta Superintelligence Labs, in a bid to regain lost ground in the global AI race. According to a source familiar with the matter, the new unit will be headed by Alexandr Wang, the former CEO of data-labeling firm Scale AI, who now takes on the role of Chief AI Officer at Meta.

The move comes as Meta grapples with senior staff exits and underwhelming reception to its latest open-source model Llama 4, developments that have left rivals such as Google, OpenAI, and China’s DeepSeek in stronger positions. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly hopes the new lab will fast-track progress toward artificial general intelligence (AGI)—a long-term ambition to build machines that can surpass human intelligence.

In recent weeks, Zuckerberg has taken personal control of AI recruiting, targeting high-profile names with aggressive offers, including attempts to lure OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever’s new startup Safe Superintelligence (SSI). Offers reportedly reached $1 million per candidate via direct WhatsApp outreach.

The shakeup includes Meta’s $14.3 billion investment in Scale AI earlier this month. In addition to Wang, the Superintelligence Labs will include SSI co-founder and CEO Daniel Gross, while former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman will co-lead the division, focusing on applied AI products.

Meta has also attracted talent from top AI firms, hiring at least 11 new AI researchers from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google DeepMind. Notable names include Jack Rae and Pei Sun (DeepMind), Jiahui Yu, Shuchao Bi, Shengjia Zhao, and Hongyu Ren (OpenAI), as well as Joel Pobar (Anthropic), who had previously spent over a decade at Meta.

Earlier this month, OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman revealed that Meta had offered some of his staff $100 million bonuses to switch companies.

Despite the hiring blitz, some analysts are skeptical of Meta’s AGI strategy. They point to the company’s Reality Labs unit, which has burned over $60 billion since 2020 with few commercial wins, outside of Ray-Ban smart glasses and Quest headsets.

The broader tech sector is expected to spend $320 billion on AI development this year. Other firms are also making bold moves: Microsoft spent $650 million acquiring most of Inflection AI’s team, and Amazon has poached key personnel from Adept.

Still, the path to AGI remains uncertain. Meta’s own Chief AI Scientist Yann LeCun has publicly said that current methods are inadequate to reach true AGI. Meanwhile, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son believes the breakthrough is within 10 years.

Anthropic CEO Criticizes Proposed 10-Year Ban on State AI Regulation as ‘Too Blunt’

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Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, argued in a New York Times opinion piece that a Republican proposal to block states from regulating artificial intelligence for 10 years is an overly blunt approach. Instead, he called for a coordinated federal effort by the White House and Congress to establish transparency standards for AI companies.

Amodei warned that a decade-long moratorium on state regulations would leave a regulatory gap with “no ability for states to act, and no national policy as a backstop,” especially given how rapidly AI technology is advancing.

The proposed ban, included in former President Donald Trump’s tax cut bill, seeks to preempt recent AI laws passed in several states. However, it has faced pushback from a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general who support state-level oversight of high-risk AI applications.

Amodei recommended a federal transparency standard requiring AI developers to implement rigorous testing and evaluation policies, disclose risk mitigation plans, and publicly share how they ensure the safety of their models before release.

He noted that Anthropic, supported by Amazon, already publishes such transparency reports, and competitors like OpenAI and Google DeepMind have adopted similar practices. Amodei suggested that legislation might be necessary to maintain transparency as AI models grow more powerful and corporate incentives to disclose risks may wane.