When 2025 started, Mark Zuckerberg and his company Meta Platforms became a hot topic — new inventions, new high-paid job recruitments of people from OpenAI, Google, Apple, and more.
When Mark announced Meta’s Super Intelligence Lab at the beginning of this year, it was known as a life-changing project. Everybody said it would definitely make Mark Zuckerberg the king of AI in this digital era. To build his AI empire, Mark tried to hire people from tech giants like OpenAI, Google, and Apple with millions of dollars, sometimes close to a billion. But months later, this move turned sour — some researchers quit, and some even rejoined OpenAI.
The dropout starts
Two former OpenAI employees, Avi Verma and Ethan Knight, joined Meta at the beginning of this year, but now they have announced their exit and joined back at OpenAI.
Another high-profile exit is Rishabh Agarwal, an Indian researcher Meta brought from Google DeepMind with around a million-plus salary. He joined in April this year, and on August 25, he announced that this could be his last month at Meta. The tech world is against Agarwal’s move, but he responded with a small smile and a life-changing quote of Mark Zuckerberg: “The biggest risk is not taking any risk.” And now most of the tech enthusiasts are laughing at Mark Zuckerberg because people are using his own words to escape from his territory.
Why are researchers leaving Meta Platforms and Mark Zuckerberg?
Reports say that Verma, Knight, and even Agarwal are pointing towards some main reasons why they are leaving the company:
- They cannot think freely
- They are corrected by other executives
- No prioritisation of their personal space
- Excessive micromanagement
In simple terms: people don’t stay at your company just because you pay well — they need peace and appreciation.
A warm welcome from OpenAI
Long-time Meta executive Chaya Nayak, researchers like Verma and Knight, joined OpenAI after quitting Meta. That means OpenAI is fishing for the sharks at Meta.
What the departures mean
Meta has put so much money into Artificial Intelligence research these days by appointing former Scale AI chief Alexandr Wang, former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman to lead the team. But these high-profile exits prove that people prioritise their mental well-being over getting more money or working with such top leaders. People are not ready to sell their peace of mind.
Also read: https://techmacknews.com/mark-zuckerberg-is-disturbing-our-peace-said-his-neighbors/
The AI war
The AI war is the hottest topic these days. Giants like Apple, Google, X, Meta, and more are the main fighters, but some newcomers like OpenAI and Perplexity are dominating the war.
What do you think about this?
