In 1956, the term Artificial Intelligence was born at Dartmouth College, sparking dreams of machines that could think and learn. Fast forward to today, and that dream has morphed into an all-out talent war. At the center? Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg—and he’s not just participating, he’s dominating.
Zuckerberg’s goal isn’t to catch up in the AI race. He wants to leap ahead. His latest weapon? The Meta Super Intelligence Lab, and it comes with checks so big they’re hard to believe. Some offers hit $300 million over four years—yes, that’s ₹2,500 crore—for just one researcher. First-year signing bonuses reportedly touch $100 million.
The approach is working. Meta has already poached top minds from rivals like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google. Some liken the offers to getting drafted into the NBA—except the stadiums are data centers, and the game is building the future of intelligence.
But Zuckerberg’s recruitment tactics go beyond money. He hosts intimate dinners with candidates, created a WhatsApp group called Recruiting Party, and even moved his desk closer to new hires at Meta HQ. It’s personal. It’s performance art.
Officially, Meta wants to build AGI—Artificial General Intelligence, the kind that surpasses human intellect. But for Zuckerberg, it also feels like a redemption story. After the Metaverse misstep, he’s betting big on AI to put Meta back on the map.
Not everyone is buying in. Some researchers have turned down the offers, and OpenAI’s Sam Altman has accused Meta of being “mercenary.” Still, Zuckerberg presses on. He calls it a “hot market” and argues the cost of talent is small compared to the trillions AGI could bring.
But AGI remains uncertain. It might be decades away—if it ever arrives. The irony is undeniable: we’re trying to build machines that don’t need humans, but we can’t do it without the most brilliant humans.
So while AI may be the future, the real battle today is still over people.
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