Meta poaches Thinking Machines co-founder amid Zuckerberg’s AI talent hunt

Meta has successfully recruited Andrew Tulloch, co-founder of Thinking Machines Lab, marking another bold move in Mark Zuckerberg’s campaign to poach top AI talent from rivals.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Tulloch co-founded Thinking Machines alongside Mira Murati, the former OpenAI chief technology officer, who left to launch her own AI startup earlier this year.

His departure comes amid reports that Zuckerberg had unsuccessfully tried to acquire Thinking Machines, and when that failed, turned to recruiting its top talent.

A spokesperson for Thinking Machines confirmed Tulloch’s exit, saying he decided to “pursue a different path for personal reasons.”

However, sources familiar with the matter told WSJ that Meta’s offer was too substantial to ignore, a package worth up to $1.5 billion over six years, including bonuses and high-performing stock options.

The move highlights Meta’s escalating AI arms race with OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google DeepMind.

Zuckerberg has made no secret of his determination to position Meta at the forefront of artificial intelligence research, particularly as its LLaMA models and AI-integrated products continue to expand across Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp.

Earlier this year, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman also revealed that Meta had offered employees from rival firms bonuses exceeding $100 million to lure them away.