If Artificial Intelligence was just a buzzword, 3 years ago, most big tech companies were quick to jump on the bandwagon and prove their AI readiness. Be in Google with Gemini or Microsoft and OpenAI, but missing in that mix was Meta. Mark Zuckerberg may have lost out on the early advantage, but he’s making sure he doesn’t miss the bus altogether.
In his latest move, the Facebook CEO is reportedly building a team of experts to develop artificial general intelligence (AGI) that can meet or exceed human capabilities. According to a CNBC report, Zuckerberg is willing to spend billions of dollars to convince Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang to join his company. According to reports, Meta is finalizing a deal to invest anywhere between $10 to $15 billion into Scale AI.
The move to get Wang or a even a stake in Scale AI may just be the beginning as Wang can help lead a new AI research lab at the social networking company. Founded in 2016, Scale AI has helped major tech companies like OpenAI, Google and Microsoft prepare data they use to train cutting-edge AI models. In March this year, the company also announced a multimillion-dollar deal with the Department of Defense in the U.S.
Because this isn’t Meta’s first foray with AI, it established its first AI lab back in 2013. But its AI team has seen quite the stir up since. Following Llama 4′s lackluster debut, Meta conducted another reorganization of its GenAI unit. Wang could be the next inclusion as he brings a lot of outside knowledge of how competitors like OpenAI are building their consumer chatbots and AI models.
According to the reports, Meta AGI is looking to hire about 50 employees, and Zuckerberg himself is vetting each candidate and offering jaw-dropping compensation packages that reportedly reach into nine figures. Reports suggest that Zuckerberg has gone into ‘founder mode’ and wants this new division, called the Superintelligence Group, and wants to build machines that can perform at or above human cognitive levels.