Zuckerberg’s dream is cracking: the brain drain is real
It seems that the metaverse is not the only thing that is being blurred for Meta. Mark Zuckerberg’s star project to build an artificial superintelligence—yes, that thing that sounds like a science fiction movie where machines surpass us in everything—is having an existential crisis worthy of a character from Black Mirror. It turns out that the geniuses they hired with millionaire bonanzas are packing their bags two months after arriving. Too much chaos even for the Meta universe? Absolutely.
It all started with a strategy that seemed taken from Ocean’s Eleven but in a Silicon Valley version: recruiting the best AI talents from companies like OpenAI and Google by offering them exorbitant hiring bonuses. We’re talking about checks with so many zeros that it’s dizzying—100 million dollars, to be exact. Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, confirmed this with that mix of sarcasm and concern that characterizes him: “Meta started making huge offers to many people on our team. Signing bonuses of $100 million, more than that in annual compensation. So far, none of our best employees have decided to accept them.” Or so he says, because the reality is that several took the bait… but for a short time.
The great renunciation: when money is not everything
The love affair between Meta and its new AI stars lasted less than a trend on TikTok. Ethan Knight, one of the key engineers, said “goodbye” to the artificial superintelligence division. But he wasn’t the only one. Avi Verma and Rishabh Agarwal didn’t even get to warm up the chair—they quit before officially starting. To top off the move, Rohan Varma and Chaya Nayak, who was Director of Product Management for Generative AI at Meta, decided that their future was… in OpenAI! Yes, the same company from which they had supposedly “rescued” them.
And this is where the plot gets interesting. Because why would anyone leave an astronomical salary and a project that promises to revolutionize AI? The answer seems to go beyond money. In the world of artificial intelligence, many engineers and researchers prioritize working in laboratories that align with their ethical values: the safety of AI, social impact, transparency… things that, let’s be honest, are not usually the forte of big techs.
Meta has not only been mired in privacy and data manipulation controversies, but its approach to AI sometimes seems more focused on profitability than on the digital well-being of humanity. And for AI purists, that’s like a dealbreaker.
Million-dollar investments and hiring freeze: the current panorama
While talent fled, Meta continued investing obscene amounts of money in other areas. For example, it acquired Scale AI for a whopping 14.3 billion dollars, a company specialized in data labeling and evaluation of AI models. But it’s no use having the best tools if you don’t have someone to operate them.
The final blow came from The Verge, which revealed that Meta sent internal memos announcing a hiring freeze and a complete restructuring of its AI division. Come on, the boat is leaking and they are trying to plug holes as they go.
Of course, in typical corporate style, the company tried to soften the blow by stating that this is a “natural consequence of their hiring processes” and that they are “adjusting certain aspects of their budget for 2026.” They also mentioned “significant changes and growth in our organization in 2025,” which in non-corporate language means: “we screwed up, but we don’t want it to show.” Of course, they assured that the critical positions of the superintelligence laboratory will remain open. Is anyone signing up?
This situation leaves a clear lesson: in the war for AI talent, money is not everything. The world’s brightest developers and scientists are not only looking for a juicy salary; They want to work on projects that don’t collide with their moral compass. And if Meta has proven anything in recent years, it’s that his compass sometimes points directly toward chaos.
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