Meta exploits mission confusion as it poaches Apple’s AI teams

It looks like war has truly broken out between Apple and Meta, with the latter poaching even more important AI developers to quit work on Apple Intelligence and build AI for Facebook instead.

Meta throws money at Apple’s AI teams

Meta hired Ruoming Pang, former head of Apple’s Foundation Models team, early in the month for a deal worth millions.

Now the company has poached two of his lieutenants, Mark Lee and Tom Gunter. Lee was Pang’s first hire when he went to Apple.

The poaching incident shows the extent to which Facebook is investing in weaponizing the vast amount of information it has gathered about almost every person on the planet, turning that data into some form of AI.

Will it be spooky, dystopian, and exploitative?

I can’t put my hand on my heart and say I expect it not to be.

I think Facebook already is that.

Missions matter more

The problems in the Foundation Models team may not entirely be about poaching and money.

The team’s big failure to reach deadline on some of its important tasks will have been deeply demoralising. It is also perhaps true the team aren’t happy to think Apple may work with third party AI firms instead, following their years of research on in house models. Recent management changes in the AI department at Apple may have generated cultural friction to an already bruised team.

While it isn’t completely clear where failures of leadership took place in the division, it is I think appropriate to suggest that the remaining team members need to be convinced to support whatever new mission Apple is on with AI. Apple’s culture promises work with meaning, and they will want the mission to matter.

Exploiting the moment, Meta is throwing money at Apple’s AI staff, attempting to tempt them to dump Cupertino and work for Zuk, who is investing billions in AI development.

In the absence of a shared commitment to a core vision, those teams are more likely to jump. After all, if nothing matters, why not take what you can get?

What will Apple do?

In the short term perhaps nothing, but you can rest assured that Facebook’s attempt to hire away Apple’s AI talent will be repaid in some form one day. The war between both firms is intensifying, with both chasing the twin grails of artificial intelligence and spatial computing.

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