Meta lured Apple’s Pang with pay package exceeding $200M – report

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) has offered exceptionally large compensation packages to key hires for its new “superintelligence” division, including a deal worth over $200 million for Ruoming Pang, a former distinguished engineer at Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Pang, who previously led Apple’s AI models team, reportedly received a multi-year offer from Meta, worth hundreds of millions. Apple did not attempt to match Meta’s bid, which far exceeds typical compensation for its senior leaders, aside from CEO Tim Cook.

New details about Pang’s deal surface as tensions intensify in Silicon Valley’s AI talent war. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently revealed on a podcast that Meta has offered his employees signing bonuses up to $100 million—and even more in total compensation—to entice them to jump ship. Despite the lucrative offers, Altman claimed that many OpenAI employees remain, drawn by the company’s culture and reputation for innovation.

Still, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has successfully recruited more than 10 researchers from OpenAI, along with top AI talent from Anthropic, Google, and other startups.

The superintelligence team now includes former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman, AI startup founder Daniel Gross, and Scale AI co-founder Alexandr Wang, who was named Meta’s chief AI officer as part of a deal giving Meta a 49% stake in Scale, valued at $14.3 billion.