Meta Superintelligence Labs hires OpenAI veteran Luke Metz - The Next Web

Ah, marvellous. Luke Metz, a name that now appears on more rosters than a journeyman footballer, is joining Meta Superintelligence Labs just seven months after he rejoined OpenAI. Yes, you read that correctly: he 'rejoined' OpenAI, then evidently decided that seven months of that particular circus was quite enough, and is now shuffling off to the Zuckerberg emporium, where he will report to Alexandr Wang, a man so thoroughly in charge of Meta's AI effort that the word 'effort' suggests heroic optimism. The hire was confirmed to Axios by a source familiar with the matter, which is corporate-speak for 'someone who definitely exists and would definitely not lie on the record.'

Let us savour the phrase 'Superintelligence Labs' for a moment. It is the sort of name a child gives a spaceship, or a CEO gives a cost centre that has so far produced nothing but impressive blog posts. Into this temple of future transcendence walks Luke Metz, a chap who could not sustain a personal loyalty to OpenAI for the length of a pregnancy. I do not know what he has planned, but I suspect the tenure will be measured in months, not years, and when he departs, the press release will describe it as 'pursuing new opportunities' — the corporate equivalent of a yeti sighting.

It is all rather wonderful, in a grim way. The AI industry's talent market is now explicitly a game of musical chairs played by people who have no idea when the music will stop, but are quite sure the chair they want is in someone else's building. Metz's return is presumably a strategic coup for Wang, who has been labouring to convince the world that Meta is a serious player in the 'superintelligence' space, whatever that is when it's at home. I wish Mr Metz well; he will need more than good wishes — a reliable travel adaptor, a strong personal brand, and the career guidance manual used by football managers: never stay long enough to see the fruit of your own labour, because by then you will be blamed for its failure. Splendid.