Meta Platforms (META, Financial), Facebook's parent company, is investing billions to secure a leading position in the AI race. The company is focusing on building data centers and acquiring top talent to advance its AI capabilities. Recently, Meta recruited three researchers from OpenAI's Zurich office, previously associated with Google's DeepMind. OpenAI's CEO noted that Meta's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, offered substantial compensation packages to attract these talents.
Meta is also in talks to bring in Daniel Gross, the CEO of Safe Superintelligence, as well as former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman. Although an acquisition of Safe Superintelligence was initially considered, it was rejected by one of its co-founders. Furthermore, Meta has invested $14.3 billion in AI startup Scale AI and hired its CEO, Alexandr Wang. Attempts to acquire Perplexity AI were unsuccessful.
Meta's strategy involves open-sourcing its AI models, allowing developers and businesses to use them, albeit with some restrictions. The company aims to gain insights from external improvements to its models, thereby enhancing its own offerings. Meta's CFO highlighted the positive impact of AI models on user engagement, particularly in its Threads app.
Rival companies like Apple are also exploring AI acquisitions to stay competitive, with interest in Perplexity AI reported. For Meta, attracting the right AI talent and technology is crucial to maintaining a competitive edge in the AI landscape.
