Meta Appoints Shengjia Zhao as Chief Scientist for Superintelligence Group

Meta announces the appointment of Shengjia Zhao, a former OpenAI talent, as chief scientist of its new AI group.

Key Points

  • • Shengjia Zhao appointed as chief scientist for Meta's superintelligence group.
  • • Zhao previously contributed to the development of ChatGPT at OpenAI.
  • • Meta's recruitment of AI talent intensifies competition with OpenAI and Google.
  • • Alexandr Wang oversees AI efforts at Meta, with Yann LeCun continuing as chief scientist of FAIR.

Meta Platforms has announced the appointment of Shengjia Zhao as the chief scientist for its newly established superintelligence AI group. Zhao, who transitioned from OpenAI in June, brings significant experience having co-authored the original ChatGPT research paper and contributed to OpenAI's first reasoning model, o1. Mark Zuckerberg praised Zhao’s pivotal role in the new lab, stating, "Shengjia co-founded the new lab and has been our lead scientist from day one." Zhao will report to Alexandr Wang, Meta's Chief AI Officer and former CEO of Scale AI, who also joined the company in June.

As part of its strategy to strengthen AI capabilities, Meta has been actively recruiting AI experts, including over a dozen from OpenAI, to enhance their competitive stance against rivals like OpenAI and Google. This move is indicative of Meta's aggressive expansion in the AI sector, aimed at creating AI models that can match or exceed human capabilities. Notably, Yann LeCun continues at Meta as chief scientist of the FAIR AI research group, ensuring the company maintains a strong internal focus on AI research.

With these strategic hires, Meta is positioning itself to lead in the development of advanced AI technologies, seeking to disrupt the current market landscape dominated by OpenAI and others.