Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has launched a sweeping reorganisation of the company’s artificial intelligence efforts, forming a new division called Meta Superintelligence Labs, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The ambitious new unit will be led by Alexandr Wang, founder and former CEO of data-labeling startup Scale AI. Wang takes on the role of chief AI officer, and will be joined by an elite group of engineers and researchers from top AI companies, including OpenAI, DeepMind, Google, and Anthropic.

Zuckerberg’s aggressive pivot comes after internal turmoil and a lukewarm reception to Meta’s latest open-source model, Llama 4.

Analysts say the company has lost ground to AI rivals like Google, OpenAI, and China’s DeepSeek, sparking the need for a reinvigorated strategy.

The Superintelligence Labs will prioritise developing artificial general intelligence (AGI) machines capable of surpassing human cognitive ability with hopes of turning Meta AI tools, smart glasses, and video-generation products into major revenue streams.
In recent weeks, Zuckerberg personally spearheaded a high-stakes recruitment drive, reportedly making million-dollar offers via WhatsApp and investing $14.3 billion into Scale AI earlier this month. Former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman will co-lead the new labs alongside Wang, steering product development and applied AI research.

Notable hires include: Daniel Gross, co-founder and CEO of Safe Superintelligence (SSI), Former DeepMind researchers Jack Rae and Pei Sun, Ex-OpenAI engineers Jiahui Yu, Shuchao Bi, Shengjia Zhao, and Hongyu Ren, Anthropic’s Joel Pobar, who previously spent over a decade at Meta.

Meta’s aggressive hiring has not gone unnoticed. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently claimed Meta offered his employees bonuses as high as $100 million in recruitment attempts.

Despite the bold push, some analysts are skeptical. Meta’s Reality Labs, another ambitious project, has lost over $60 billion since 2020 with limited commercial success.

Still, big tech’s AI arms race is only heating up.

Industry spending on AI is projected to reach $320 billion in 2025, and competitors like Microsoft and Amazon have already made landmark hires of their own. While the path to AGI remains uncertain Meta’s chief AI scientist Yann LeCun remains publicly skeptical Zuckerberg is betting hard that Meta can catch up.

Erizia Rubyjeana

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