Meta has abruptly frozen all AI hiring after burning through billions in an unprecedented talent acquisition spree that saw the company offering $100 million signing bonuses and compensation packages exceeding $1.5 billion for individual researchers. The freeze comes after hiring just 50+ AI specialists for its new superintelligence team, now called “TBD Labs.”
$1.5 BILLION — Single offer to Andrew Tulloch, AI researcher (rejected) $200 MILLION — Package for ex-Apple manager Ruoming Pang (accepted) $100 MILLION — Standard signing bonus for OpenAI defectors $14.3 BILLION — Paid for 49% stake in Scale AI to acquire CEO Alexandr Wang 8 RESEARCHERS — Poached from OpenAI by end of June 4 RESEARCHERS — Taken from Apple in July alone
WHY META PAUSED
The Dilution Crisis
Meta’s stock compensation promises have created a potential 3-5% equity dilution that would devastate shareholder value. The company realized it couldn’t sustain billion-dollar packages without fundamentally altering its cap table.
The Integration Failure
Sources indicate the 50+ hires aren’t working cohesively. Different research philosophies from OpenAI, Google, and Apple alumni have created competing factions within TBD Labs. “It’s like trying to merge five different startups overnight,” according to an internal source.
The Wang Gambit Backfired
The $14.3 billion Scale AI deal to acquire Alexandr Wang as Chief AI Officer has proven problematic. Scale AI immediately laid off 200 employees (14% of staff) after the deal, and Wang’s integration has been “culturally catastrophic” per leaked Workplace posts.
THE TALENT WAR CASUALTIES
Who Meta Got:
Alexandr Wang (Scale AI CEO) – Now Chief AI Officer
Andrew Tulloch (Thinking Machines Lab) – Rejected $1.5B
3 unnamed DeepMind principals – Walked from negotiations
Ilya Sutskever (Ex-OpenAI) – Never engaged despite approaches
MARKET IMPLICATIONS
Immediate Impact
Meta stock down 7% in after-hours trading following internal memo leak. The freeze signals that even Meta’s massive $1.2 trillion market cap can’t sustain the AI talent arms race.
Industry Ripple Effects
Talent market correction incoming. Other companies preparing to slash AI compensation by 40-60% in Q4 2025. The “acqui-hire bubble” is bursting as companies realize throwing money at researchers doesn’t guarantee AI breakthroughs.
The OpenAI Advantage
OpenAI emerges stronger. With Meta retreating, OpenAI can retain talent at lower costs. Sam Altman’s claim about “unsustainable” Meta offers has been vindicated.
THE STRATEGIC FAILURE
What Meta Wanted
Build an AGI-capable team overnight by acquiring entire companies’ worth of talent. Create a “Manhattan Project for AI” that would leapfrog OpenAI and Google.
What Actually Happened
Created a “zombie organization” with too many chiefs, no clear vision. Spent billions for talent that’s now sitting idle or working on competing internal projects. Lost focus on core products while chasing AI hype.
Meta’s hiring freeze isn’t just a pause — it’s an admission of strategic failure. The company that once moved fast and broke things tried to buy its way to AI leadership and discovered that talent without direction is just expensive overhead.
The $100 million signing bonuses will be remembered as the peak of AI irrationality, the moment when even infinite money couldn’t solve the fundamental problem: AI breakthroughs require vision and patience, not just paychecks.
Zuckerberg’s superintelligence dream has become a very expensive lesson in the limits of acquisition-based innovation. The freeze signals not just Meta’s retreat, but potentially the beginning of a broader AI talent market correction that will bring compensation back to earth and refocus the industry on building rather than buying.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Meta just proved you can’t buy your way to AGI. The hiring freeze after just 50 hires reveals the futility of the talent arms race. With $20+ billion spent for minimal progress, Meta’s retreat marks the end of the “acqui-hire at any cost” era in AI.
The company that disrupted social networking has been disrupted by its own desperation. The future of AI won’t be won by the highest bidder, but by those with the clearest vision and most patient capital.
Gennaro is the creator of FourWeekMBA, which reached about four million business people, comprising C-level executives, investors, analysts, product managers, and aspiring digital entrepreneurs in 2022 alone | He is also Director of Sales for a high-tech scaleup in the AI Industry | In 2012, Gennaro earned an International MBA with emphasis on Corporate Finance and Business Strategy.
