Meta Launches Superintelligence Labs for Next‑Gen Tech
Meta forms Superintelligence Labs, led by Alexandr Wang and Nat Friedman, to build its next wave of cutting‑edge models and products.
MENLO PARK, Calif. — July 1, 2025
Mark Zuckerberg has created a new unit called Meta Superintelligence Labs to accelerate the company’s most advanced model research and products, according to an internal memo seen by Bloomberg and later published in full by CNBC.
“We’re starting research on our next generation of models so we can reach the frontier in the next year or so,” Zuckerberg wrote.
Big names, big offers
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Alexandr Wang founder of Scale becomes Meta’s first chief superintelligence officer and will run the new group.
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Nat Friedman, former GitHub CEO and well‑known tech investor, will “partner” with Wang to guide overall direction.
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Meta confirmed 11 senior hires from companies such as Anthropic, Google DeepMind, and OpenAI.
A person familiar with the negotiations said Meta offered “well into the eight‑figure range” to recruit top researchers, echoing earlier reporting by The Verge.
Catch‑up mode
Meta has trailed other leading firms in high‑end model releases over the past year. Zuckerberg’s memo signals a strong push to close that gap:
“We’ve made good progress, but the competitive bar keeps rising. Superintelligence Labs gives us one place to coordinate the best people, data, and compute under one roof.”
The company has also held early talks to buy or invest in up‑and‑coming research outfits, including Thinking Machines Lab, Perplexity, and Safe Superintelligence. None of those discussions reached a formal offer stage, sources said.
Hardware and hiring
Industry analysts say Meta’s recent orders of Nvidia’s H200 GPUs and custom networking gear align with a projection that the firm will roughly double its compute capacity by mid‑2026.
“You can’t train cutting‑edge systems without massive capital,” noted analyst Sarah Tan of Silicon Insights. “Meta is clearly willing to spend big on both silicon and talent.”
What happens next
Superintelligence Labs will begin work immediately, combining long‑term research with shorter product cycles for Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The memo did not set public release dates, but executives hinted the first demo models could arrive by early 2026.
Fact Box: Meta Superintelligence Labs
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Lead Executives | Alexandr Wang (Chief Officer), Nat Friedman (Partner) |
| Core Mission | Build next‑generation models for Meta’s platforms |
| Key Hires | 11 senior researchers from Anthropic, DeepMind, OpenAI |
| Talent Strategy | Offers reportedly over $10 million per hire |
| M&A Talks | Explored Thinking Machines Lab, Perplexity, Safe Superintelligence |
| Compute Plan | Major GPU purchases, capacity to double by 2026 |
| First Outputs | Internal demos expected early 2026 |
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