Meta building superintelligence team with nine-figure pay in AI push, reports say

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is personally creating a new "superintelligence" team dedicated to building the world's most advanced AI platform, and splashing out nine-figure packages to hire top talent, the New York Times and Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

Why it matters: Cost doesn't matter in the race for AI dominance.

Catch up quick: The Times reported that Scale AI founder Alexandr Wang would join a new Meta lab, which is intended to develop an AI with powers that ultimately exceed those of the human brain.

• Meta has been in talks to invest billions of dollars in Scale and bring on some of its employees, the Times reported.
• Per Bloomberg, Zuckerberg has been personally leading recruiting for the team of about 50 people — and has even rearranged Meta's offices so the new hires sit near him.

The intrigue: Per the Times, Meta has offered compensation packages between seven and nine figures to AI researchers from top competitors, some of whom have accepted.

• Both the Times and Bloomberg reported that Zuckerberg has been personally frustrated with the pace of Meta's AI development and public stumbles, and has gone into a more hands-on mode to accelerate progress.

• Menlo Ventures venture capitalist Deedy Das posted to X late Monday that he'd heard of at least three instances in the last week of Meta losing out on AI talent to competitors with offers north of $2 million a year.

For the record: Neither Meta nor Scale were immediately available for comment early Tuesday.

What to watch: In the highly competitive and lavishly funded industry, such big-ticket efforts don't usually go unanswered.