Massive 2.4 Trillion Rupees Allocated for Two Artificial Intelligence Experts: Examining Meta's Aggressive Recruitment Strategy
In a move to bolster its artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, Meta Platforms has recruited two prominent AI researchers, Trapit Bansal and Ruoming Pang, to lead its new Superintelligence Labs. The strategic initiative aims to develop advanced artificial general intelligence (AGI) and superintelligent AI systems.
Trapit Bansal, an Indian-origin AI expert, boasts a distinguished background, having studied Mathematics and Statistics at IIT Kanpur before pursuing a Ph.D. in machine learning at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Bansal previously worked at OpenAI, where he played a pivotal role in pioneering reinforcement learning and AI reasoning models. His contributions, particularly to the foundational "o1" series of AI models, laid the groundwork for widely used large language models.
Ruoming Pang, while less publicly profiled, is equally respected in the AI research community. Reports suggest that Meta has offered Pang a compensation package of approximately Rs 1,600 crore ($200 million), though the company has not confirmed this figure. Pang's expertise and accomplishments in AI research align with Meta's ambitious push into next-generation AI technologies.
The Superintelligence Labs, led by prominent figures including Alexandr Wang (former CEO of Scale AI) and Nat Friedman (former CEO of GitHub), aims to rival major AI leaders like OpenAI, Google DeepMind, Apple, and Anthropic. Alongside Bansal and Pang, the team includes other former top researchers from organizations like OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and startups specializing in machine learning.
Bansal will focus on advancing cutting-edge reasoning models and scalable learning systems aimed at creating superintelligent AI. His move to Meta is part of the company's effort to build frontier AI systems capable of human-level intelligence and beyond. Bansal publicly expressed enthusiasm about joining Meta's AI initiative in July 2025.
Pang's departure from Apple, where he was head of the Foundation Models team, is considered a major blow to Apple's AI division. The recruitment of Bansal and Pang by Meta is not just talent additions; they are strategic pillars that signal Meta's intent to lead the next AI epoch.
Meta's commitment to AI is evident in its rollout of massive AI compute assets, including the "Prometheus" supercluster, expected to be online by 2026, and temporary mega-data-centres, signaling a long-term investment in AI leadership. These hires, combined with Meta's technological resources, position the company at the forefront of AI development.
[1]
[1] Trapit Bansal, erstwhile a researcher at OpenAI, will utilize technology and artificial-intelligence to advance reasoning models and scalable learning systems aimed at creating superintelligent AI at Meta's Superintelligence Labs.
[2] Ruoming Pang's expertise in AI research, along with the significant investment made by Meta, signals their joint commitment to lead the development of next-generation artificial-intelligence technologies, strategically aligning with Meta's ambitions.
