Andrew Tulloch, co-founder of Thinking Machines Lab, has officially joined Meta after months of aggressive recruitment by Mark Zuckerberg. The departure deals a significant blow to former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati's high-profile startup and highlights the intensifying war for AI talent among tech giants.
The AI talent wars just claimed another high-profile casualty. Andrew Tulloch, co-founder of the buzzy startup Thinking Machines Lab, announced his departure to employees on Friday, confirming weeks of speculation about his move to Meta. The news represents a major win for Mark Zuckerberg's AI ambitions and a stinging loss for former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati's fledgling venture.
The Wall Street Journal first broke the story, reporting that Tulloch delivered the news in an internal message. A Thinking Machines Lab spokesperson confirmed the departure, diplomatically stating that Tulloch "has decided to pursue a different path for personal reasons." But industry insiders know the real story runs much deeper.
This move caps months of relentless pursuit by Zuckerberg, who's been throwing unprecedented sums at top AI researchers. Back in August, the WSJ revealed that Meta first tried to acquire Thinking Machines Lab outright. When Murati's team rebuffed the acquisition offer, Zuckerberg pivoted to individual recruitment - and Tulloch became his primary target. The compensation package reportedly dangled before Tulloch? A staggering $1.5 billion spread across at least six years, making it one of the largest individual recruitment offers in tech history.
Meta initially dismissed the WSJ's reporting as "inaccurate and ridiculous," but sources close to the negotiations suggest the numbers weren't far off. For context, that figure dwarfs most startup valuations and signals just how desperately Big Tech wants to corner the market on AI expertise. Tulloch's background explains the premium - he previously worked at both OpenAI and Facebook's AI Research Group, giving him insider knowledge of cutting-edge research at two of the industry's most influential organizations.
The timing couldn't be worse for Thinking Machines Lab. Murati's startup launched with significant fanfare earlier this year, positioning itself as a serious challenger to her former employer OpenAI. The company attracted attention not just for Murati's pedigree, but for assembling a team of former OpenAI researchers who understood the technology from the ground up. Losing a co-founder this early suggests the startup ecosystem's David-versus-Goliath narrative has limits when Goliath starts writing billion-dollar checks.
