Big Loss: Meta poaches two top researchers from OpenAI

Dear Readers,

How much is a brilliant mind worth? This week, the AI world shows us once again that the battle for talent is tougher than ever: Meta has poached two of OpenAI's top researchers – Jason Wei and Hyung Won Chung. Both were deeply involved in the development of the “o-Model” series, which is considered the foundation for future AGI systems. What does this change mean for the balance of power in the AI industry? And could it disrupt the innovation momentum at OpenAI?

In this issue, we take a deep dive: We examine how the race for AI talent is shaping the future of the industry, introduce a new luxury clinic concept for longevity, and show how autonomous AI agents are revolutionizing drug discovery. Also: AI that estimates your biological age from a selfie, and the question of whether human work will even exist after AGI. Curious? Then read on – it's going to be exciting.

In Today’s Issue:

All the best,

Meta is once again causing a stir in the AI community: the company has poached two high-profile researchers from OpenAI. These moves underscore how fierce the battle for talent at the forefront of AI development has become. What makes this particularly explosive is that both researchers were involved in key projects on agent architectures, which are considered the foundation for future AGI systems.

The two scientists worked intensively on OpenAI's “o-Model” series: Jason Wei contributed significantly to the development of the o1 and o3 models, focusing on deep research approaches and reinforcement learning. Hyung Won Chung focused in particular on the o1 model and the development of agent and reasoning architectures.

For the AI community, this is a double wake-up call: On the one hand, it shows that Meta is steering with all its might toward “generalized intelligence.” On the other hand, it raises questions about OpenAI's talent retention and long-term strategy. Whether this move will give Meta a decisive advantage or is just another step in the arms race remains to be seen.

Where is the next generation of AI talent headed? And what does this mean for the open ecosystem that many researchers have valued about OpenAI?

Why it matters: The transfer underscores the escalating competition for AI experts and could significantly strengthen Meta's position in the race for AGI. At the same time, it raises questions about the innovation dynamics at OpenAI.

Sources:

🔗 https://techcrunch.com/2025/07/16/meta-reportedly-scores-two-more-high-profile-openai-researchers/

🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/meta-ai-vs-openai-race-dominate-landscape-praneeth-narisetty-cgase

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This post discusses which jobs could still exist after AGI. Feel free to join the discussion!

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