• Source:JND
Add as a preferred

Meta’s push to lead the artificial intelligence race has reached a new level—one that includes personal outreach from Mark Zuckerberg and a deal reportedly worth up to $250 million.

According to The New York Times, Meta has hired 24-year-old AI researcher Matt Deitke after initially failing to convince him with a $125 million offer. Deitke had other plans—he wanted to stay focused on his new startup, Vercept. But that changed when Zuckerberg personally reached out and met with him. Soon after, Meta came back with a revised offer that doubled the original, reportedly including up to $100 million in the first year alone.

ALSO READ: Sony Unveils FlexStrike Wireless Fight Stick For PS5, Launching In 2026

Deitke took his time. He spoke with friends and colleagues. In the end, many of them urged him to accept. And he did.

So why did Meta go to such lengths?

Deitke is considered one of the most promising young minds in AI. He previously led the development of Molmo, a multimodal AI chatbot capable of processing text, images, and audio—technology that closely matches Meta’s own goals. He also earned an Outstanding Paper Award at NeurIPS 2022 for his work in 3D datasets and embodied AI, placing him among the top researchers at one of the world’s most competitive AI conferences.

Despite founding Vercept in November and raising $16.5 million from high-profile investors, including former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Deitke is now part of Meta’s elite AI group—Superintelligence Labs. This internal team is reportedly central to Zuckerberg’s broader vision of building AI models that can go well beyond today's systems.

Meta isn’t slowing down, either. Deitke’s hiring is just one part of a larger, billion-dollar recruitment effort. The company has brought in top talent from OpenAI, Google, Apple, and Anthropic in recent months. One notable example is Ruoming Pang, former head of Apple’s AI models, who also joined Meta recently with a reported $200 million-plus deal.

ALSO READ: Garena Free Fire MAX Redeem Codes for Today, 3 August 2025: Claim Free Diamonds, Skins & More

With Deitke now on board, Meta’s message is clear: it’s willing to invest heavily—and move fast—to shape the future of AI.