Meta Platforms Inc. is reportedly assembling a powerhouse AI team through strategic hires including former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman and AI-focused investment firm partner Daniel Gross. The Information first revealed these recruitment discussions involving anonymous sources, indicating Meta's interest in acquiring a stake in the investment company that has backed numerous prominent AI startups.
Friedman, who led GitHub to a 113% valuation increase during his tenure, played a pivotal role in developing GitHub Copilot - one of the industry's first generative AI code assistants. After departing GitHub in 2021, he co-founded NFDG, an investment firm specializing in early-stage AI ventures with commitments ranging from $1 million to $100 million.
Gross brings complementary expertise having co-founded Cue (later acquired by Apple) and contributed to multiple AI projects at Apple before establishing Safe Superintelligence Inc. Together with Friedman, they've cultivated a portfolio featuring Stripe, Character Technologies, Weights and Biases, and Perplexity AI.
While specific roles for the new recruits remain undisclosed, Reuters reports Friedman will serve on Meta's external advisory board. This strategic move follows Meta's recent acquisition of Scale AI for $1.43 billion, securing not only the company but also founder Alexandr Wang, who will lead a new lab focused on artificial general intelligence (AGI).
Industry analyst Holger Mueller of Constellation Research notes this represents a strategic shift: "Meta is transitioning from Llama model development to building AGI capabilities through operational expertise they lacked previously." The company has simultaneously launched an aggressive talent war against competitors like OpenAI and Google DeepMind, offering multi-million dollar sign-on bonuses.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed Meta targeted Noam Brown, one of OpenAI's top researchers, with offers including $100 million sign-on bonuses. While Altman expressed confidence in retaining talent, he acknowledged the value proposition: "Our team believes we're better positioned to achieve AGI first and deliver greater long-term value."
These moves underscore Meta's intensified focus on AI competitiveness as it faces challenges in maintaining leadership in large language model (LLM) development despite the open-source success of its Llama series. The company has invested billions in R&D to catch up with rivals in both technical advancement and talent acquisition.
