Mark Zuckerberg and Meta’s aggressive push to lead the AI race has reportedly led to a recruitment of a 24-year-old AI researcher. According to a report by The New York Times, Matt Deitke initially rejected Meta’s $125 million offer, prompting Zuckerberg to meet him personally. After the meeting, Meta sealed the deal with a revised four-year compensation package reportedly worth up to $250 million in stock and cash.Citing two sources familiar with the talks, the New York Times report noted that Deitke preferred to continue with his newly founded startup, Vercept after $125 million was offered to him. Zuckerberg personally reached out to him for a meeting. After their conversation, Meta returned with a revised offer that doubled the original, including a potential $100 million to be paid in the first year alone.The compensation jump was so extraordinary that Deitke consulted with his peers, many of whom ultimately urged him to accept the deal.
Who is Matt Deitke and why he is ‘in demand’
The report says that Deitke is a highly sought-after talent in the AI community. He previously led the development of Molmo – an AI chatbot that can process images, sounds and text – a multi-modal system that aligns with Meta’s goals. His work on 3D datasets and embodied AI earned him an Outstanding Paper Award at NeurIPS 2022, a top honour given to only a dozen researchers out of more than 10,000 submissions.
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In November, Deitke co-founded his own startup, Vercept, which focuses on AI agents that can autonomously perform tasks using internet-based software. The startup, with about 10 employees, raised $16.5 million from investors, including former Google CEO Eric Schmidt.According to the report, Meta has reportedly spent over $1 billion to build an ‘all-star roster’ for its “superintelligence” research team. This includes luring away AI talent from rival firms like OpenAI, Anthropic, Apple and Google. Recently, Meta hired Ruoming Pang, the former head of Apple’s AI models team, with a compensation package reportedly exceeding $200 million to join Zuckerberg’s Superintelligence Labs team.
