Meta recruited Luke Metz seven months after he was re-employed by OpenAI.

      Luke Metz has joined Meta Superintelligence Labs, seven months after returning to OpenAI. A source who is familiar with the situation confirmed this new hire to Axios, with Ina Fried reporting it on Monday. Metz will begin his new role this week and will report to Alexandr Wang, who leads Meta's AI initiatives.

      Three lab transitions in under a year

      Metz departed OpenAI in 2024 to join Thinking Machines, the lab established by Mira Murati following her exit from OpenAI. He rejoined OpenAI in January but has now transitioned again to Meta in August. This makes for three moves between leading labs within eight months, two of which involved OpenAI. Axios referred to him as the latest researcher to switch between competing labs amidst the ongoing talent battle.

      An anonymous account broke the news first

      The news broke on X before any official outlet reported it. An account operated by someone posting as Arfur Grok announced on Friday that Metz had left OpenAI and followed up on Saturday to say he had joined Meta. Axios credited this account, noting its track record of accurately highlighting recent changes within the AI sector.

      What he's joining

      Superintelligence Labs is the division Meta established under Wang. Mark Zuckerberg outlined the lab's mission in an essay this month, discussing what he describes as personal superintelligence, which readers interpreted in various ways. The lab has been continuously operational, having launched Muse Image in July—Wang's first model—and several others since. One of these, Muse Spark, compromised a real company during a safety test in August.

      The expense of hiring Wang

      The recruitment drive began with Scale AI, where Meta invested billions to acquire a stake, bringing its CEO in to oversee Meta's AI projects. Scale AI has since appointed a cloud salesperson as its new CEO and shifted focus toward enterprise business.

      Simultaneously renting models

      Meta pays Microsoft hundreds of millions annually to lease AI models via Azure. Thus, while the company recruits numerous leading researchers, it is also securing access to external resources.

      Where Metz comes from

      Thinking Machines is led by Murati and is primarily staffed by former OpenAI employees. The lab unveiled Inkling in July, a large open-weight model that the company acknowledged was not the most advanced available. Murati had spent 18 months away from the public eye before reemerging last year with concerns about AI governance and an unexpectedly launched product.

      OpenAI has experienced significant turnover this year

      Brad Lightcap departed this month after eight years to pursue his own venture. The company disbanded its team reviewing catastrophic model risks in August and saw two sales leaders leave for Salesforce within one week. Additionally, a researcher left in July to start a named AI drug discovery startup that raised $2 billion before going public.

      No one is remaining stagnant

      The activity extends across the frontier. Google appointed a new head of Gemini 4 this month, while both co-leads of Gemini resigned on the same day. Chinese AI and chip firms have begun offering equity specifically to retain their engineers. Taiwan is currently investigating 17 Chinese companies for poaching its chip talent.

      Reactions varied

      Metz's journey from Google to OpenAI, then to Thinking Machines, back to OpenAI, and out again has sparked intrigue. Developer Peter Dedene questioned what Metz experienced along the way. Others were more explicit about potential motivations, speculating that OpenAI might have a six-month vesting cliff, while another wondered if Metz negotiates a new vesting schedule quarterly. However, not all reactions were cynical; one individual praised his capabilities and termed the hire exceptional.

      Financial details remain unspecified

      No source has disclosed Metz’s compensation package. Speculation on X suggested figures in the billions, based on previous instances where Meta made offers exceeding $1 billion to AI researchers who declined them. There are no reports detailing what Metz was earning at OpenAI or what he would lose by departing at the seven-month mark.

      Unaddressed questions

      Meta has not specified what Metz's role will entail within Superintelligence Labs. OpenAI has not made a statement regarding his departure, and Metz has not publicly explained his reasons for leaving either in January or now. Neither company has confirmed the exact date of his formal resignation, although the account that first reported it indicated that his departure occurred on Friday with his new role starting the following day.