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Apple AI Chief Ruoming Pang Departs for Meta’s Superintelligence Division

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Apple’s top artificial intelligence executive Ruoming Pang has reportedly left the company to join Meta Platforms, according to Bloomberg News. Pang, who led Apple’s foundation models team, is set to join Meta’s newly launched superintelligence division with a multimillion-dollar annual compensation package.

The move is part of an intensifying talent war among tech giants vying for leadership in AI development. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently restructured the company’s AI initiatives into a new division named Meta Superintelligence Labs, which will be overseen by Alexandr Wang, the former CEO of Scale AI. Wang, now Meta’s Chief AI Officer, joined the company following Meta’s recent investment in Scale AI—an investment that valued the startup at $29 billion.

Both Apple and Meta declined to comment on the news when approached by Reuters.

Pang’s departure underscores the increasing competition for elite AI talent, as companies invest aggressively in building cutting-edge models and technologies. Meta, in particular, has become more assertive in recruiting high-profile AI leaders to accelerate its ambitions in large language models and advanced generative systems.

Surge AI Eyes Up to $1 Billion Capital Raise Amid Growth and Competition with Scale AI

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Surge AI, a fast-growing data-labeling company competing directly with Scale AI, is reportedly preparing to raise as much as $1 billion in its first-ever capital fundraising, according to sources cited by Reuters. Founded by former Google and Meta engineer Edwin Chen, Surge AI aims for a valuation exceeding $15 billion, although talks remain in the early stages and the final amount could be higher. The planned funding round would include both primary capital to fuel growth and secondary capital to provide liquidity for employees.

Surge AI has achieved profitability and has been bootstrapped since its 2020 founding. It generated over $1 billion in revenue last year, surpassing Scale AI’s $870 million revenue for the same period. By comparison, Scale AI was last valued at $14 billion in a funding round last year, and more recently at nearly $29 billion following Meta’s strategic investment, which included hiring Scale’s CEO Alexandr Wang to lead Meta’s Superintelligence Labs.

The surge in interest for Surge AI coincides with a shift among some major AI customers, such as Google and OpenAI, who are reportedly moving away from Scale AI due to concerns about sharing sensitive research priorities with Meta, Scale’s largest investor. Despite this, Scale AI maintains its business remains strong and reassures clients about data protection.

Surge AI has grown quietly but rapidly, becoming a major player in the data labeling space, distinguished by its use of a network of highly skilled contractors rather than large pools of low-cost labor. Its premium services cater to leading AI labs including Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic.

As reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF) becomes critical for training advanced AI, the need for precise, nuanced data labeling has soared, benefiting companies like Surge AI. However, some investors remain cautious about the sector due to its traditionally low margins and reliance on human labor, which could face automation pressures as AI technologies advance.

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.