Everyone’s Watching OpenAI, But Meta Just Hired Their Mastermind

Shengjia Zhao helped build ChatGPT. Now he’s shaping Meta’s AI future.

Zhao just became Chief Scientist at Meta’s Superintelligence Labs—yes, the same Meta that’s trying to rebound after a lukewarm Llama launch.

It’s not just another title change.
This is Meta’s smartest move yet in the AI race.

Zhao isn’t just any hire.
He was one of the original brains behind OpenAI’s reasoning model—o1—the same foundation that inspired chain-of-thought models across the industry.

He’s also one of the minds who made ChatGPT what it is.

After OpenAI? He quietly joined Meta. And now, he’s leading their entire AI research direction.

Zuckerberg’s plan is clear: assemble a new AI dream team, and Zhao is the centerpiece.

Meanwhile, Yann LeCun stays in his role at FAIR—Meta’s long-term research arm—meaning Meta’s playing both the short game and the long game.

What’s Zhao building next?
Nobody knows. But if the past is any clue, it’s something that could change the whole game.

🧩 Smart hiring is Meta’s real Superintelligence.

💬 Curious what Meta’s “scaling paradigm” breakthroughs might look like under Zhao’s leadership?