$256 mil! How come DeepSeek didn't poach this AI engineer?

[superpower]

How did Xi allow this Shanghai grad to work for the enemy?

---

https://www.straitstimes.com/busine...ang-ruoming-with-pay-package-over-256-million

Meta poached Apple’s top AI engineer Pang Ruoming with pay package over $256 million​

The pay package for Mr Pang Ruoming is in line with other major hires for Meta’s new superintelligence team.

PHOTOS: REUTERS, PANG RUOMING/LINKEDIN

Published Jul 10, 2025, 08:58 AM
Updated Jul 10, 2025, 08:13 PM

SAN FRANCISCO – Meta Platforms has made unusually high compensation offers to new members of its “superintelligence” team – including a more than US$200 million (S$256 million) package for a former Apple distinguished engineer.

Meta hired Mr Pang Ruoming, who ran Apple’s artificial intelligence (AI) models team, with a pay package in the hundreds of millions over a several-year period, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Apple did not try to match the offer, as it far exceeds pay at the company for leaders other than chief executive Tim Cook.

That pay package is in line with other major hires for Meta’s new superintelligence team focused on building AI systems that can complete tasks as well as or better than humans, the people said.

 

[Eisenhut]

Apple Ai very good meh??? Apple were behind AI curve and was forced to incorporate AI to sell in China

 

[superpower]

Apple Ai very good meh??? Apple were behind AI curve and was forced to incorporate AI to sell in China

Apple AI cmi. That's Pang made the move to Meta... not just the high pay

 

[superpower]

Ultimately it's cheaper to buy AI talent than to buy over AI companies.

---

Meta Just Hired Apple’s Top AI Brain, And the Whole Tech World Is Shaking​

By Mayura RajapakshaLast Updated:July 9, 2025

Meta just hired the man behind Apple’s AI brain, and the move might cost Apple the AI race.
Ruoming Pang is a name most people don’t know, but inside Silicon Valley, he’s one of the most powerful minds in artificial intelligence.

Until this month, Pang led Apple’s AI foundation model team. He oversaw the brains behind Apple Intelligence, the company’s new AI system designed to upgrade Siri and add smart features to iPhones. Now, he’s joining Meta, and the move has sent shockwaves across the tech world.

According to reports Reuters, Pang was offered a compensation package worth tens of millions of dollars per year. That’s right, not for a company, but for one person. And he accepted.

Fast Facts​

• Who: Ruoming Pang, former head of AI models at Apple
• What: Hired by Meta for its new Superintelligence Labs
• Why it matters: Pang led the team behind Apple’s foundation models and AI engine for Siri
• Deal size: Reportedly tens of millions of dollars per year
• Impact: Signals a major shift in the AI talent war between Big Tech rivals

Who Is Ruoming Pang?​

Ruoming Pang has a Ph.D. from Princeton and used to work at Google for 15 years. At Google, he led teams that worked on speech recognition and helped build key systems like Zanzibar, used for secure access controls across the company.

In 2021, Apple hired him to build their AI models. These models power features like on-device summarization, Genmoji, and the improved Siri. His team had over 100 engineers, and his work was critical to Apple’s future AI plans.

But insiders say Apple’s AI wasn’t keeping up. Its models were smaller, slower, and less advanced than those from OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and even Meta. Some reports suggest Apple was even thinking of using third-party models just to stay relevant.

Why Did Meta Want Him So Badly?​

Mark Zuckerberg is betting big on AI, not just smarter chatbots, but actual superintelligence. He created a new team called Meta Superintelligence Labs, which is now pulling in some of the biggest AI minds from around the world.

And Pang isn’t the only one. Meta also hired top talent from OpenAI, Anthropic, Safe Superintelligence, and even Google DeepMind in just the past few weeks. One of the team leaders is Alexandr Wang, the 28-year-old former CEO of Scale AI, a startup Meta just invested in at a $29 billion valuation.

Clearly, Meta wants to win. And it’s willing to pay whatever it takes.

What Does This Mean for Apple?​

Pang leaving is a huge blow to Apple’s AI plans.

He wasn’t just an engineer. He was leading the team that would make Apple’s AI more competitive. Some reports say his departure could trigger more resignations inside Apple’s AI unit. His deputy, Tom Gunter, already left.

Now, Apple is scrambling. Leadership is being passed to Zhifeng Chen, another AI expert. But with rumors of low morale and uncertainty, it’s clear that Apple is under pressure.

Apple hasn’t commented publicly yet. But the fact that Meta landed one of its top people and paid so much to do it speaks volumes.

What’s the Bigger Picture?​

This isn’t just about one man switching jobs.

It’s about a war for AI talent. Big Tech companies are treating engineers like rock stars, offering multi-million-dollar deals just to gain an edge. The AI race is no longer just about building tools. It’s about building the smartest team.

And right now, Meta seems to be winning.

With Zuckerberg placing “superintelligence” at the center of Meta’s future, hiring Pang could be the move that tips the balance. Meanwhile, Apple may be forced to depend more on outside help, even from rivals like OpenAI.

Final Thoughts​

Ruoming Pang’s move marks a turning point in the AI race. It shows that power in the tech world isn’t just about product launches or ad revenue anymore. It’s about people. The smartest, rarest kind of people.

Zuckerberg made it clear. If he wants you on his AI team, there’s no limit to what he’ll pay.

And now the world is watching what Apple, and everyone else, will do next.

 

[eatshitndie]

the best and brightest tiong engineers are in sillycon valley. “best” ones in tiongcock are at best 2nd rate. better for him to work at meta. high sexpectations, high rewards, high life. apple now is moving like a dinosaur. everything needs to be 100% perfect before launch. at least 6.9 years for any brand new product launch.

 

[syed putra]

Meta are pro Zionist.
China has more talent than just this one guy.
Or rather, Xi wants him in Meta before learning all the secrets and extracting him home with full knowledge before mossads strikes him off.

 

[Eisenhut]

This Alexander Wang lagi best! Pledged his allegiance to USA and won many military contracts. His parents also use to work for USA govt, apparently from Taiwan news, this Wang guy hate CCP.

USA jin satki! Use Chinese to fight Chinese

 

[superpower]

China produces 1.3 mil engineers a year. Some will be lost to the US because of the perks and high pay. But the talent depth in China is so great that for every 1 top engineer defected, 5 remain at home. Ultimately the companies with the deepest pockets will win over the top talent. AI will be next war frontier.

 

[congo9]

China produces 1.3 mil engineers a year. Some will be lost to the US because of the perks and high pay. But the talent depth in China is so great that for every 1 top engineer defected, 5 remain at home. Ultimately the companies with the deepest pockets will win over the top talent. AI will be next war frontier.

Ya . They produce so many engineers. But the reality is that all these engineers aren't great innovators. They are I think great copiers.

A few days back, Huawei trained AI (盘古）had been accused of using Ali AI to trained their own AI. A lot of engineer makes your product too cheap. Plus a lot of engineer aren't world beaters. This is the problem Of China.

 

[syed putra]

Ya . They produce so many engineers. But the reality is that all these engineers aren't great innovators. They are I think great copiers.

A few days back, Huawei trained AI (盘古）had been accused of using Ali AI to trained their own AI. A lot of engineer makes your product too cheap. Plus a lot of engineer aren't world beaters. This is the problem Of China.

It's probably due to research budget the Chinese have not been able to compete.
That is why Trump is very fussy over overseas taxation of their tech companies like Facebook, Amazon and google. They dominate, collect data and spy, probably get a huge federal aided grants, national intelligence contracts.....
Apple lies outside the Zionist sphere of Influence and so far remain unscathed. Like say Yahoo.

 

[congo9]

the best and brightest tiong engineers are in sillycon valley. “best” ones in tiongcock are at best 2nd rate. better for him to work at meta. high sexpectations, high rewards, high life. apple now is moving like a dinosaur. everything needs to be 100% perfect before launch. at least 6.9 years for any brand new product launch.

Best and brightest are in USA. This is the best tier.

Those who are back in China are the at most 1st tier and 2nd.

Those who is in Singapore are at most 2nd tier and below

 

[syed putra]

Best and brightest are in USA. This is the best tier.

Those who are back in China are the at most 1st tier and 2nd.

Those who is in Singapore are at most 2nd tier and below

I don't think so. The best normally are not tempted by monetary rewards.

 

[eatshitndie]

It's probably due to research budget the Chinese have not been able to compete.
That is why Trump is very fussy over overseas taxation of their tech companies like Facebook, Amazon and google. They dominate, collect data and spy, probably get a huge federal aided grants, national intelligence contracts.....
Apple lies outside the Zionist sphere of Influence and so far remain unscathed. Like say Yahoo.

the market is vastly different berween the 2 big cuntries. usa has a higher gdp per capita for several decades ahead of tiongcock plus a more advanced market in terms of spending power of the wealthy and not just spending per ordinary consumer thus competitors and investors are willing to spend more to hire the best to get ahead of the curve. next is the vast ecosystem of both domestic and foreign investments, vc’s, m&a, wall street and nasdaq jacking up stock values, huge brain trust and effective use of talent. i’m surprised so many wealthy japs and their money are invested in sillycon valley. add gooks, europeans (many italians, french, germans), arabs (saudis, uae, qatar, kuwait, etc.). don’t even mention cecas. i was having an sexpensive lunch at the sf waterfront today and see them all there. multimillionaires and billionaires. at least usd69 for 1 snall tapas plate. will need 6.9 plates for 2. and found out that japs own several tech firms in sillycon valley or are behind the funding. the international diversity of talent, wealth, and funding sets the tech firms in sillycon valley apart from those in tiongcock. and not surprising sg is all over the investment scene in sf. both tummysick and gic have offices in sf. the biggest tech funders right now are in the valley, mainly from multi billions in war chests as a result of rapid capitalisation of stock values and sexpanding sales, markets, buyers and profit margins, i.e. nvda, meta, goog, aapl even oracle forming their own vc and investment arms. every freaking top tier jap, gook, euro, ceca and tiong engineer dreams of starting and striking tech gold in sillycon valley and becum a household name like peter thiel (german born) or elon musk (south african born).

 

[syed putra]

the market is vastly different berween the 2 big cuntries. usa has a higher gdp per capita for several decades ahead of tiongcock plus a more advanced market in terms of spending power of the wealthy and not just spending per ordinary consumer thus competitors and investors are willing to spend more to hire the best to get ahead of the curve. next is the vast ecosystem of both domestic and foreign investments, vc’s, m&a, wall street and nasdaq jacking up stock values, huge brain trust and effective use of talent. i’m surprised so many wealthy japs and their money are invested in sillycon valley. add gooks, europeans (many italians, french, germans), arabs (saudis, uae, qatar, kuwait, etc.). don’t even mention cecas. i was having an sexpensive lunch at the sf waterfront today and see them all there. multimillionaires and billionaires. at least usd69 for 1 snall tapas plate. will need 6.9 plates for 2. and found out that japs own several tech firms in sillycon valley or are behind the funding. the international diversity of talent, wealth, and funding sets the tech firms in sillycon valley apart from those in tiongcock. and not surprising sg is all over the investment scene in sf. both tummysick and gic have offices in sf. the biggest tech funders right now are in the valley, mainly from multi billions in war chests as a result of rapid capitalisation of stock values and sexpanding sales, markets, buyers and profit margins, i.e. nvda, meta, goog, aapl even oracle forming their own vc and investment arms. every freaking top tier jap, gook, euro, ceca and tiong engineer dreams of starting and striking tech gold in sillycon valley and becum a household name like peter thiel (german born) or elon musk (south african born).

It all started with the creation of the transistor.

 

[syed putra]

Ultimately it's cheaper to buy AI talent than to buy over AI companies

Just like trading in football players.

every freaking top tier jap, gook, euro, ceca and tiong engineer dreams of starting and striking tech gold in sillycon valley and becum a household name like peter thiel (german born) or elon musk (south african born).

It's the US marketing, distribution network. The moment something new comes out, it is quickly sold worldwide. Whether it's dance move, songs, movies, new inventions.