Meta hires Apple Inc. executives for over 200 million USD, escalating the Silicon Valley AI talent battle.

Meta Platforms Inc. (META.US) has sparked industry attention with the compensation package offered to its new "superintelligence" team members. According to sources, the company has hired former Apple Inc. (AAPL.US) AI model team leader Pang Ruoming for over $200 million in total compensation, far exceeding the pay levels of other Apple Inc. executives besides CEO Tim Cook. Apple Inc. ultimately did not match this offer, indirectly confirming the aggressive nature of Meta's talent recruitment this time. The California-based company is building a superintelligence team focused on developing AI systems that surpass human capabilities, with a compensation structure that shows significant features: stock as the core component, along with base salary and signing bonuses. Sources point out that when candidates need to give up stock options from their previous startup companies, cash compensation will increase accordingly. The stock portion has multiple unlocking conditions, including service commitment and specific performance indicators, such as requiring Meta's stock price to reach a certain growth rate in specific years, with contract terms generally exceeding the usual four-year stock vesting period. The team has attracted several top talents in the industry, including Pang Ruoming, former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman, AI startup founder Daniel Gross, and Scale AI co-founder Alexandr Wang, who was brought in by holding 49% equity (worth $14.3 billion). This high-profile recruiting strategy in terms of compensation has surpassed traditional corporate executive categories and even exceeded the compensation levels of CEOs of major global banks. The industry talent competition has recently stirred up another wave due to statements made by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Altman revealed in a podcast that Meta had offered signing bonuses of up to $100 million to superintelligence team members, but emphasized that OpenAI had retained key talent by virtue of its cultural advantage. However, the reality shows that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has successfully poached over a dozen top researchers from OpenAI, Anthropic, Alphabet Inc. Class C, and other institutions, demonstrating strong attraction. As the AI competition in Silicon Valley intensifies, Altman revealed that he will meet with Zuckerberg during the Allen & Co. conference in Sun Valley, Idaho this week, and this conversation that stirs the industry nerves may bring new variables to the talent competition. It is worth noting that despite Meta offering sky-high salaries, the long-term nature of stock options and their strong correlation with company performance introduces variables to actual returns. This structural design reflects both the demand for talent and the cautious balance of tech giants in the AI arms race.