Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has poached three leading AI researchers from OpenAI, sending a clear signal in the global race for artificial intelligence. Lucas Beyer, Alexander Kolesnikov, and Xiaohua Zhai, who were previously involved in building OpenAI's Zurich research office, are moving to Meta's new superintelligence project – a division tasked with developing AI that surpasses human intelligence.

The trio's commitment, who were previously with Google DeepMind, comes at a time when Meta's existing AI models fell short of expectations. After the launch of the last generation was disappointing and a larger version was postponed indefinitely, Zuckerberg personally intervened in recruitment—partly with offers of up to 100 million dollars per researcher.

The recent $14 billion investment in the AI start-up Scale and the hiring of its CEO Alexandr Wang also mark a strategic shift. Zuckerberg wants to position Meta as a central player in the AI era – relying on aggressive talent acquisition, high capital expenditures, and a new vision: a world in which consumers regularly interact with AI friends, virtual agents, and generative advertising.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman reacted calmly to the change. "Zuckerberg is doing something crazy again – what’s next?" he said at an event on Tuesday. He emphasized that his best people had not switched.

The departure of the Zurich researchers is nevertheless part of a series of high-profile personnel transfers that also affect other tech giants like Google or start-ups like Anthropic. At the center is a race for talent, in which know-how has become the currency. For Meta, it's now about leading the next technological growth wave with an investment volume of up to $65 billion – before someone else does.