① Social media giant Meta (Meta Platforms(META.US))has poached two more key AI researchers from Apple(Apple Inc.(AAPL.US)), shortly after luring away Apple's AI star—AI model chief Ruoming Pang—who was these researchers' supervisor.  

② The latest brain drain may further undermine Apple's artificial intelligence ambitions.  

As the AI race in Silicon Valley intensifies, the battle for talent among tech giants is escalating.  

Meta recently hired Apple researchers Mark Lee and Tom Gunter for its Superintelligence Labs team. Lee has already joined Meta after departing Apple, while Gunter will commence his role in the near future.  

Notably, Gunter left Apple last month, briefly worked at another AI company, and resigned recently.  

Over recent months, Meta has aggressively recruited AI talent from rival Silicon Valley firms at premium salaries. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has prioritized AI, investing heavily in talent and data centers to compete with rivals like OpenAI and Google.  

Earlier this week, Zuckerberg stated Meta will "invest *billions* in computing resources to build superintelligence."  

Earlier this month, Apple lost its AI model chief Ruoming Pang to Meta. Reports indicate Meta offered a multi-year compensation package exceeding $20 million.  

Pang joined Apple in 2021 from Alphabet, leading Apple’s foundational model team of ~100 members. Both Lee and Gunter were part of this team, which develops core models powering "Apple Intelligence" and other AI features on devices.  

The latest personnel loss may further impact Apple's AI ambitions. Recently, industry insiders revealed Apple is considering using Anthropic or OpenAI's AI technology to power its new Siri. This move could signal a major strategic pivot for Apple in AI, suggesting the company may abandon its current reliance on in-house large models.  

Reportedly, Meta’s offered compensation is multiples higher than what Apple pays engineers in its foundational model team. To stem further departures, Apple has begun offering raises to some engineers on the team as retention incentives.  

Nevertheless, these efforts pale in comparison to Meta’s offers. For instance, Gunter will join a team comprising several AI experts who each secured multi-year compensation packages valued at over $10 million.