A $200 million compensation package wasn't enough to keep Ruoming Pang at Meta, as OpenAI successfully recruited the AI infrastructure expert after months of pursuit.
Pang left Meta last week to join OpenAI, marking his third major tech company move in under eight months. The researcher previously led Apple's Foundation Model team before joining Meta in mid-2025 to oversee AI infrastructure for the company's Superintelligence Labs division. At Meta, he played a central role in building systems supporting next-generation artificial intelligence models, according to The Information.
OpenAI confirmed the hire through a spokesperson cited by The Information earlier this week. Neither company responded immediately to requests for comment from Reuters about the personnel change.
Pang's departure represents a significant loss for Meta's AI ambitions, coming just seven months after he joined from Apple with what Bloomberg reported was a compensation package valued at more than $200 million spread across multiple years.
The aggressive recruitment highlights how Silicon Valley's top firms are battling for elite researchers capable of shaping foundational AI infrastructure. The move follows sustained recruitment efforts by OpenAI that lasted several months, according to sources familiar with the situation.
Pang's expertise in large-scale AI model infrastructure and performance optimization is expected to enhance OpenAI's ability to scale advanced systems and improve training efficiency.
Meta has reportedly offered compensation packages worth hundreds of millions of dollars to attract leading AI experts while simultaneously losing talent to rival firms. In recent months, the company has seen 15 top-level AI workers depart for competitors, according to a Business Insider analysis.
OpenAI has grown its staff by more than 40% annually, reaching over 3,531 employees as it expands technical capabilities. The company faces competition from Anthropic, Google, Apple and Meta itself as firms accelerate investment in artificial general intelligence research.
Infrastructure expertise has become particularly valuable as generative AI adoption accelerates and model training demands ever-greater computing power. Researchers with experience running large AI platforms command premium salaries that can reach five to ten times industry averages for comparable roles.
The global AI talent war shows no signs of slowing as companies prepare for projected infrastructure spending exceeding $1 trillion worldwide by 2027. Leading technology firms continue offering multi-million-dollar pay packages, equity incentives and senior leadership roles to secure specialists capable of building large-scale systems.
