Meta Platforms Inc., headquartered in California, United States, has reportedly hired another senior Apple Inc. engineer from its AI division, despite being under a hiring freeze. This move underscores Meta’s aggressive talent acquisition strategy in Silicon Valley and Apple’s growing struggle to retain key AI researchers
Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has hired another senior Apple Inc. artificial intelligence engineer, despite its AI division being under a reported hiring freeze. The move signals Meta’s aggressive pursuit of AI talent in Silicon Valley and highlights Apple’s challenges in retaining top researchers.
According to Bloomberg, Meta has brought in Frank Chu, who previously led Apple’s AI teams focused on cloud infrastructure, training, and search. Chu will now join Meta’s newly established Superintelligence Labs, a core hub for CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s push toward advanced AI systems.
This appointment marks the sixth Apple AI researcher to defect to Meta within the past seven weeks, following the high-profile hiring of Ruoming Pang, former head of Apple’s foundation models team.
While reports earlier suggested that Meta had halted recruitment across its AI division as part of organizational restructuring and yearly budget planning, the exception made for Chu raises questions about the rigidity of this hiring freeze.
For Apple, the wave of departures is intensifying concerns over its AI capabilities. During Apple’s Q3 2025 earnings call, CEO Tim Cook promised greater investment in artificial intelligence to bridge the gap with rivals. However, the continued outflow of senior researchers to Meta could undermine these efforts and reinforce the perception that Apple is lagging behind competitors in AI development.
Meanwhile, Meta’s own AI division has faced internal challenges, including four restructurings within six months and organizational churn. Still, its willingness to bypass its hiring freeze for high-value talent underscores the critical importance of AI expertise in the ongoing race among Silicon Valley giants.
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Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has hired another senior Apple Inc. artificial intelligence engineer, despite its AI division being under a reported hiring freeze. The move signals Meta’s aggressive pursuit of AI talent in Silicon Valley and highlights Apple’s challenges in retaining top researchers.
According to Bloomberg, Meta has brought in Frank Chu, who previously led Apple’s AI teams focused on cloud infrastructure, training, and search. Chu will now join Meta’s newly established Superintelligence Labs, a core hub for CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s push toward advanced AI systems.
This appointment marks the sixth Apple AI researcher to defect to Meta within the past seven weeks, following the high-profile hiring of Ruoming Pang, former head of Apple’s foundation models team.
While reports earlier suggested that Meta had halted recruitment across its AI division as part of organizational restructuring and yearly budget planning, the exception made for Chu raises questions about the rigidity of this hiring freeze.
For Apple, the wave of departures is intensifying concerns over its AI capabilities. During Apple’s Q3 2025 earnings call, CEO Tim Cook promised greater investment in artificial intelligence to bridge the gap with rivals. However, the continued outflow of senior researchers to Meta could undermine these efforts and reinforce the perception that Apple is lagging behind competitors in AI development.
Meanwhile, Meta’s own AI division has faced internal challenges, including four restructurings within six months and organizational churn. Still, its willingness to bypass its hiring freeze for high-value talent underscores the critical importance of AI expertise in the ongoing race among Silicon Valley giants.
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