Meta Hires Jason Wei, Hyung Won Chung From OpenAI to Boost Superintelligence Research

OpenAI researchers Jason Wei and Hyung Won Chung are joining Meta's newly formed superintelligence lab, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. Just a week ago, the company hired Ruoming Pang, the head of Apple's foundational models group.

Mark Zuckerberg knows that the AI war should not be underestimated; that's why they are aggressively recruiting AI experts at the moment.

Who is Jason Wei?

Meta Hires Jason Wei, Hyung Won Chung From OpenAI to

Wei is best known for his work on OpenAI's o3 and deep research models. Before joining OpenAI in 2023, he worked at Google, where he played a key role in chain-of-thought prompting, a technique that trains AI to solve complex problems by thinking through them step-by-step. According to WIRED, Wei became a devoted advocate of reinforcement learning, a core method for training AI using feedback mechanisms. This approach is now central to many of Meta's superintelligence research efforts.

Wei recently posted a message on social media about how reinforcement learning has influenced his work as well as his philosophy of life.

"In life (and when building AI models), imitation is good and you have to do it at first, Wei wrote. But "beating the teacher requires walking your own path and taking risks and rewards from the environment."

Hyung Won Chung Also Joins Meta's Elite AI Team

Wei isn't the only OpenAI researcher leaving Sam Altman's leadership. Hyung Won Chung, another respected name in deep learning and agent-based AI, is also joining Meta's superintelligence unit. Chung worked closely with Wei at both Google and OpenAI, contributing to OpenAI's o1 model and other advanced research projects.

Several sources confirm that both Wei and Chung's OpenAI Slack accounts have been deactivated, marking the end of their stay at the company. Their departure comes amid a burgeoning trend in team-based recruitment, as Meta seems to be tactfully recruiting research teams with rich histories of collaboration.

Meta's $300M Talent Offensive Signals Escalation in AI Arms Race

Meta's wholesale recruiting campaign is part of a larger push being overseen by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who just rolled out an updated AI strategy.

Facebook's parent firm is spending big in its superintelligence unit, offering the world's best AI talent as much as $300 million in total compensation over four years, according to a leaked internal memo that WIRED has seen.

This talent wave features several former OpenAI researchers, including a group from the firm's Swiss office, and represents Meta's move to become a leading player in developing artificial general intelligence (AGI).

Meanwhile, former OpenAI board member Helen Toner warned that Meta's AI hiring spree could backfire.