Daniel Gross Joins Meta’s Superintelligence Lab in Latest AI Talent Acquisition
Jul 5, 2025

Daniel Gross Joins Meta’s Superintelligence Lab in Latest AI Talent Acquisition

AI-summarised brief · reviewed before publication

Daniel Gross, the former CEO and co-founder of Safe Superintelligence Inc. (SSI), has joined Meta Platforms' newly formed superintelligence lab. This move marks another significant development in the ongoing AI talent war. According to his spokesperson Lulu Meservey, Gross will work on artificial intelligence products under Meta's superintelligence unit. The development follows Meta's recent restructuring of its AI division and a flurry of high-profile hires aimed at pushing the boundaries of artificial general intelligence (AGI), AI systems capable of human-level or superior cognition. Ilya Sutskever, Gross's co-founder at SSI and the former chief scientist at OpenAI, announced on Friday that Gross had stepped down from his role at the AI startup. Sutskever will now assume the position of CEO at SSI. In his farewell post on X, Gross wrote, "The company's future is very bright, and I expect miracles to follow." Although he didn't mention Meta directly, his departure from SSI comes just months after the stealth-mode startup was launched with a focus on building safe and aligned superintelligence. Gross's move to Meta is seen as part of a wider recruitment strategy personally spearheaded by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Reports suggest that Zuckerberg has been actively courting leading AI minds, even inviting prospective hires to his residences in Palo Alto and Lake Tahoe. Gross is not the only prominent figure to have joined Meta's superintelligence efforts. Nat Friedman, former GitHub CEO and Gross's long-time collaborator in venture capital firm NFDG, has also signed on. He now co-leads Meta's superintelligence initiative alongside former Scale AI chief executive Alexandr Wang. The Wall Street Journal previously reported that Meta has been actively recruiting top AI talent, highlighting the company's commitment to advancing artificial general intelligence.