• by Colin Kirkland , 2 hours ago

Meta has hired former OpenAI researcher Luke Metz to its Superintelligence Labs team, marking the tech giant’s ongoing push to become a leading force in the development of cutting-edge AI systems.

After working at OpenAI -- the founder of popular AI-chatbot ChatGPT -- for two years, Metz left the company in 2024 to co-found Thinking Machines Lab, an American AI startup valued at $12 billion.

Indicative of the AI talent wars’ volatility, however, in January 2026 Metz planned on re-oining OpenAI. Now, the prominent AI researcher is committed to Meta, where he will report directly to Alexandr Wang, founder of Scale AI and Meta’s current chief AI officer, according to a report by Axios.

Metz is Meta’s latest notable AI hire as the company carries out its three-year plan to spend over $600 billion in the U.S. on the development of AI superintelligence.

As Meta invests billions in datacenters, automated ad tools, algorithms, agentic assistants, AI-powered smart glasses and more, the company acquired a 49% in Scale AI, hiring Wang, then devised a team of “elite AI researchers” led by Yang Song, a former TikTok executive now in charge of making Meta’s social apps more engaging and profitable.

Meta has also hired Andrew Tulloch, another co-founder of Thinking Machines Lab, as well as two additional AI researchers from the AI startup.