‘They are behind and need to…’ Google DeepMind CEO takes a dig at Meta’s AI hiring spree

Demis Hassabis

The AI talent war is intensifying, and Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis isn’t mincing words. Reacting to Meta’s aggressive push to hire top researchers from OpenAI, Google, and Apple, Hassabis said the move “makes sense” because “they’re behind and they need to do something.” He acknowledged the logic of Meta’s strategy but also pointed out the company’s current position outside the frontier of cutting-edge AI.

Meta’s new Superintelligence Labs, led by former Scale AI CEO Alexander Wang and ex-GitHub CEO Nat Friedman, was launched after a tepid response to its Llama model updates. In an attempt to accelerate progress, Meta has been offering eye-watering compensation packages—some reportedly touching $200 million a year—to lure top talent. Mark Zuckerberg himself is said to be directly involved in the recruitment efforts.

Hassabis, however, suggests that not everyone is driven purely by money. “The people who are real believers in the mission of AGI… are mostly doing it to be at the frontier,” he said. For them, it’s about shaping how artificial general intelligence evolves, not just chasing paychecks.

Reflecting on DeepMind’s scrappy beginnings, he added, “We couldn’t raise any money… I didn’t pay myself for a couple of years. These days, interns are being paid what we raised as our entire first seed round.”

While Meta’s hiring spree might help it catch up, Hassabis believes that true influence in AI will come from those focused on purpose, not just profit.