Meta has reportedly secured two prominent researchers from OpenAI, Jason Wei and Hyung Won Chung.
According to Wired, both experts are set to join Meta’s new Superintelligence Lab.Â
Their departure from OpenAI is viewed as another significant milestone in Meta’s pursuit of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).
High-Profile Talent
Sources familiar with the matter confirmed to Wired that both researchers’ internal Slack accounts at OpenAI are no longer active.
This strongly suggests they have ended their tenure at the company.
When at OpenAI, Jason Wei played a leading role, focusing on the o3 model and deep research efforts.
Before joining OpenAI, he worked at Google, where he advanced chain-of-thought prompting methods.
These techniques helped large language models improve reasoning through step-by-step thinking.
Hyung Won Chung also brings extensive experience. He worked on OpenAI’s o1 model and focused on agent development and reasoning.
Like Wei, Chung previously worked at Google. There, the two collaborated on several AI research projects.
Their close partnership appears to be one of the reasons Meta recruited them as a team.
Another strong reason is Wei’s and Chung’s specialization reasoning, agent behavior, and deep model performance: all areas vital to AGI.
Their work directly impacts how future AI systems plan, learn, and adapt.
Meta’s Strategy
Mark Zuckerberg has made it clear that Meta intends to lead in AGI. That explains the company’s heavy investment in both infrastructure and talent.
Its Superintelligence Lab, recently launched, is central to that mission. To achieve its goals, Meta continues to hire top-tier talent from rival AI labs.
The compensation is reportedly generous, but more than money, Meta offers researchers the chance to work on some of the most ambitious AI challenges of the decade.
Zuckerberg’s strategy goes beyond individual talent. He is assembling small, highly functional teams.
By hiring groups with proven collaboration, Meta hopes to speed up development. This approach is intentional and focused.
Departures
Wei and Chung are not the first researchers to leave OpenAI for competitors. Over the past year, other key staff members have made similar moves. The exits raise questions about OpenAI’s ability to retain its top minds.
As competition increases, firms like OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Anthropic must now focus not only on innovation but also on internal stability.
