Meta Hires Five Thinking Machines Lab Founders
April 21, 2026 – 8:57 am
In summary: Meta has hired five founding members of Thinking Machines Lab, the AI startup built by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, after she rejected a reported $1 billion acquisition offer. The most expensive individual hire, co-founder Andrew Tulloch, reportedly received a $1.5 billion package over six years. This talent raid is part of Meta’s broader AI restructuring efforts.
Meta has now recruited five of the founding members of Thinking Machines Lab, an AI startup established by Mira Murati after her time at OpenAI. The recent departures include founding engineer Joshua Gross, who joined Meta Superintelligence Labs in March, and co-founder Andrew Tulloch, who left for Meta in October with a substantial compensation package.
The strategy has been described as a "full-scale raid." Following Mark Zuckerberg’s failed $1 billion acquisition offer, Meta has systematically recruited the founding team members one by one. Out of the startup’s original group, five have joined Meta, three returned to OpenAI, and one went to Elon Musk’s xAI.
Who Left and Where They Went
- Andrew Tulloch: Joined Meta Superintelligence Labs under Alexandr Wang, Meta’s Chief AI Officer.
- Joshua Gross: Leads engineering teams within the same division as Meta.
- Barret Zoph and Luke Metz: Returned to OpenAI in January 2026.
- Sam Schoenholz also left for OpenAI.
- Devendra Chaplot: Joined xAI in March.
These departures have significantly changed Thinking Machines Lab’s leadership, with Murati remaining as CEO.