Meta offers $200 million to Apple’s AI chief Ruoming Pang, far more than Apple pays anyone but Tim Cook

Meta

Meta has hired one of Apple’s top AI experts, and the offer was massive. Ruoming Pang, who led Apple’s artificial intelligence models team, has joined Meta’s new "superintelligence" group. According to Bloomberg, Meta offered him a pay package worth more than 200 million dollars over a few years. That’s more than what anyone at Apple earns, except for CEO Tim Cook. Apple didn’t try to match the offer.

The huge amount shows how serious Meta is about leading the race in artificial intelligence. The company is building a team to develop powerful AI systems that can perform tasks as well as, or better than, humans. Alongside Pang, Meta has also brought in big names like former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman, AI founder Daniel Gross, and Scale AI’s Alexandr Wang, who is now Meta’s chief AI officer.

Most of the money offered to new hires like Pang is tied to Meta’s stock. The actual cash includes a base salary and a joining bonus, but the biggest part depends on how well Meta performs over time. Employees have to stay with the company for several years and help meet specific goals to receive the full payout.

Apple is known for being careful with salaries and bonuses, which is why it didn’t try to match Meta’s offer. At Apple, such high packages are extremely rare and usually reserved only for the CEO.

This news comes shortly after OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, said Meta has been offering his employees bonuses as high as 100 million dollars to leave. He said that while the money is tempting, many of his team members choose to stay for the work environment and purpose.

Still, with Ruoming Pang and many other top names joining Meta, it’s clear that the company is doing whatever it takes to win the AI race.