Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, is set to embark on the development of 'superintelligent' artificial intelligence (AI) that exceeds human intelligence. The New York Times (NYT) reported on the 10th (local time) that Meta has initiated the establishment of a new AI research lab for this purpose.
'Superintelligence' is a next-generation technology that surpasses artificial general intelligence (AGI), which refers to AI at human level, and represents the ultimate stage that the current AI industry aims to reach.
NYT cited sources saying that Meta has recruited Alexander Wang, founder and CEO of the Silicon Valley AI startup Scale AI, as a key figure to realize this, and has been discussing investments of billions of dollars into Scale AI.
Alexander Wang is a 28-year-old Chinese-American entrepreneur who founded Scale AI in 2016, gaining attention for its data refinement technology. Born in 1997 to a family of physicists who immigrated from China to the U.S., he enrolled in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for computer science but dropped out and founded Scale AI at the age of 19. After founding Scale AI, Wang became the youngest billionaire in the world.
Earlier, Bloomberg reported that Meta is also considering an investment of up to $10 billion (approximately 13.6 trillion won) in Scale AI, which would mark the largest external corporate AI investment since the company's inception.
Meta has also begun scouting dozens of researchers who have worked at major AI competitors like OpenAI and Google, offering them attractive conditions, and some have reportedly already decided to join.
According to sources, Meta has been facing difficulties due to underperformance in recent key technology projects, conflicts among internal executives, and loss of key talent. The establishment of this superintelligent AI research lab is part of an attempt to comprehensively overhaul Meta's AI strategy rather than simply an expansion. The large-scale language model 'LLaMA 4,' released in April, did not receive attention as expected.
NYT added that 'Meta expects that the recruitment of CEO Alexander Wang will help it return to the forefront of the AI competition.'