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Who Has Meta Poached So Far, and What Does It Mean for Singaporeans?

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Meta has poached at least 20 named AI leaders and researchers since June 2025, mostly from OpenAI, Apple and Google DeepMind, led by Scale AI founder Alexandr Wang and ChatGPT co-creator Shengjia Zhao. The impact so far: a ballooning cost base, 8,000 layoffs, and star hires who have already walked out.

TL;DR

  • Who: Wang, Zhao and a roster drawn largely from OpenAI, Apple and Google DeepMind.
  • Who has left: Ruoming Pang (to OpenAI) and Andrew Tulloch, both within a year.
  • The bill: research spending up 67%, free cash flow down to US$784 million in one quarter.
  • For you: the same company paying nine figures for stars sent Singapore staff 4am layoff emails. If you own a US index fund, you are funding both.

Who has Meta poached so far?

Mark Zuckerberg set up Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL) in June 2025 after the weak reception of Meta's Llama 4 model. The publicly named hires, per Zuckerberg's staff memo and reporting by Reuters and Bloomberg:

Poached from Who
Scale AI Alexandr Wang, now chief AI officer. He arrived alongside Meta's US$14.3 billion investment for a 49% stake
GitHub, Safe Superintelligence Nat Friedman, Daniel Gross
OpenAI Shengjia Zhao (MSL chief scientist), Trapit Bansal, Shuchao Bi, Hongyu Ren, Jiahui Yu, Huiwen Chang, Lucas Beyer, Alexander Kolesnikov, Xiaohua Zhai
Apple Ruoming Pang, Mark Lee, Tom Gunter, Bowen Zhang
Google DeepMind Jack Rae, Pei Sun
Anthropic, Sesame Joel Pobar, Johan Schalkwyk
Thinking Machines Lab Andrew Tulloch (October 2025)

The pay figures are reported, not confirmed. OpenAI's Sam Altman claimed Meta dangled US$100 million signing bonuses; Meta's CTO said the actual terms were more complex. Bloomberg put Pang's package above US$200 million. The Wall Street Journal reported an offer of up to US$1.5 billion over six years for Tulloch, which Meta called "inaccurate and ridiculous".

Did the money make them stay?

Not all of them.

  • Ruoming Pang left for OpenAI in February 2026, roughly seven months in, according to The Information.
  • Andrew Tulloch is leaving after about eleven months, Semafor reported on 9 September 2026, a day after Meta launched its Muse AI agent.
  • Yann LeCun, Meta's chief AI scientist of 12 years, left at the end of 2025 to start his own venture.

To be fair, the team has shipped. MSL released its Muse Spark model in April 2026 and the Muse personal agent on 8 September, initially in the US only. Whether it is good enough to justify the spend is still an open question.

What has the Meta talent war cost?

Meta's own second-quarter 2026 results are the cleanest evidence:

  • Research and development: US$21.66 billion, up 67% from a year earlier
  • Share-based compensation: US$7.66 billion, up 58%
  • Capital expenditure: US$31.08 billion in the quarter, with full-year guidance of US$130 billion to US$145 billion
  • Free cash flow: US$784 million, down from US$8.55 billion
  • Layoffs: about 8,000 staff in May 2026, with US$1.18 billion in severance
  • Buybacks: none, versus US$10.17 billion a year earlier

Not all of that is pay; chips and data centres dominate. But the pattern is clear. Revenue still grew 28% to US$60.8 billion, so the ads business is funding the bet. Shareholders are getting less cash back while it plays out.

What does it mean for Singaporeans?

If you work in tech. When Meta cut those 8,000 jobs on 20 May, Singapore staff were the first to be told, by email at 4am. Being a regional hub offered no protection. Meanwhile, Robert Walters told The Straits Times that pay for AI roles here rose 15% to 25% in a year, against 4.9% nominal wage growth in 2025. Fresh AI hires start at S$70,000 to S$90,000, and top specialists approach S$350,000.

The lesson is not "become a superstar researcher". It is that the premium sits with scarce, demonstrable skills. TFC unpacked that in whether AI skills actually pay more in Singapore, and HR leaders made the same point when asked whether AI will replace your job.

If you invest. Meta is a top holding in most S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 funds, so many Singaporeans own this bet without choosing it. As TFC noted in its piece on the AI slowdown call, concentration is the real exposure. Watch free cash flow and capex guidance at the next results rather than the hiring headlines. This is general information, not financial advice.

In summary

Meta bought an all-star AI team fast. A year on, it has a product, a much heavier cost base and proof that nine-figure pay does not guarantee loyalty. For Singaporeans, the useful questions are closer to home: how scarce your skills are, and how much of your portfolio rides on one company's bet.

For more on how global tech shifts land in Singaporean careers and portfolios, follow The Financial Coconut Podcast and join the community via linkin.bio/thefinancialcoconut.

FAQ

  1. Who has Meta poached from OpenAI?
    At least nine named researchers: Shengjia Zhao, Trapit Bansal, Shuchao Bi, Hongyu Ren, Jiahui Yu, Huiwen Chang, Lucas Beyer, Alexander Kolesnikov and Xiaohua Zhai. Zhao, a ChatGPT co-creator, is now chief scientist of Meta Superintelligence Labs.
  2. Did Meta really pay US$100 million signing bonuses?
    That figure comes from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Meta's CTO said offers were more complex than a one-off bonus. Bloomberg reported a package above US$200 million for Ruoming Pang, and Meta has called a reported US$1.5 billion offer to Andrew Tulloch inaccurate.
  3. Which of Meta's poached AI hires have left?
    Ruoming Pang joined OpenAI in February 2026 after about seven months. Andrew Tulloch's exit was reported in September 2026 after about eleven months. A few early recruits returned to OpenAI within weeks in 2025.
  4. How does Meta's AI hiring affect Singapore investors?
    Meta is a large holding in S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 funds. Its free cash flow fell to US$784 million in the second quarter of 2026 and it paused buybacks, so index investors are indirectly funding the AI bet.

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