Four AI majors were poached by Meta within a month, and Apple responded with a salary increase

On July 30, Bloomberg reported that Bowen Zhang, an important multi-modal AI researcher at Apple, switched jobs to Meta. He was the fourth Apple AI general to be poached by Meta within a month, which once again dealt a blow to Apple’s AI development.

Giannandria and Federighi, who lead Apple's AI business

People familiar with the matter said that Zhang Bowen resigned last Friday and will join Meta's newly established super intelligence team. Zhang Bowen was a member of Apple's Basic Model Team (AFM), which was responsible for building the core technology behind Apple's AI platform.

Previously, Meta poached Ruoming Pang, the head of Apple's AFM team, with a salary of more than $200 million. In addition, two other researchers on the team, Tom Gunter and Mark Lee, recently joined Meta. The AFM team consists of dozens of engineers and researchers located in Cupertino, California, and New York.

According to people familiar with the matter, in response to poaching from companies such as Meta, Apple has given small salary increases to employees on the AFM team, regardless of whether these employees threaten to quit. Still, Apple's current salary levels pale in comparison to those of its competitors.

These departures have plunged Apple's AFM team into turmoil. Pang Ruoming once played a central role in formulating the department's development roadmap and research direction. Now many employees within AFM said that their future has become unclear. More engineers are actively interviewing for outside job opportunities, according to people familiar with the matter. Another team member, Floris Weers, has also moved to a startup in recent weeks.

People familiar with the matter said that some Apple executives believe that the company's self-developed AI models have become a stumbling block in catching up with industry competitors. Uncertainty surrounding whether this technology should be outsourced has hurt employee morale and further exacerbated attrition.

Currently, Apple’s AFM team is headed by Zhifeng Chen and reports to Daphne Luong, Apple’s director of AI research. Daphne Liang reports to John Giannandrea, Apple’s senior vice president and head of AI.

As of press time, spokespersons for Apple and Meta declined to comment.