Meta Secures Top AI Talent, Including Anthropic's Anton Bakhtin, Amid Industry-Wide Hiring Spree

Meta Platforms has significantly expanded its artificial intelligence research capabilities with the recent addition of Anton Bakhtin, a distinguished researcher formerly of Anthropic. Bakhtin's move to Meta's newly formed Superintelligence Labs is part of an aggressive talent acquisition drive by the tech giant, aiming to accelerate its advancements in artificial general intelligence (AGI).

The news of Bakhtin's hiring was initially reported on social media. As stated in a tweet by TBPN, "> BREAKING: Anthropic researcher Anton Bakhtin has joined Meta." This high-profile recruitment underscores the intensifying competition for top AI talent across the technology sector.

Bakhtin's expertise includes significant contributions to large language models, notably his work on Claude at Anthropic. Prior to his tenure at Anthropic, Bakhtin also held a research position at Meta AI (FAIR) and Google, contributing to projects like CICERO, an AI that achieved human-level performance in the strategy game Diplomacy. His return to Meta signals a strategic move by the company to bring in seasoned experts.

Meta's hiring spree extends beyond Anthropic, with several other prominent AI researchers joining its ranks. These include Ruoming Pang, Apple's former head of AI models, and Yuanzhi Li from OpenAI. This multi-faceted recruitment effort highlights Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's personal involvement and the company's commitment to investing "tens of billions of dollars" in AI-related initiatives, including infrastructure and talent.

The aggressive recruitment tactics have stirred reactions from rival companies, with some executives from OpenAI expressing concerns over Meta's substantial compensation packages. Meta's Superintelligence Labs, co-led by Alexandr Wang, aims to develop AI technology capable of performing tasks at or above human levels, positioning the company as a formidable player in the global AI race. The influx of top-tier researchers like Bakhtin is crucial for Meta's ambitious AI roadmap and its pursuit of cutting-edge AI innovation.