A lawyer who used to represent Meta in its copyright battle against publishers is now admitting that the company's AI appears to have ingested pirated books — and if he's right, CEO Mark Zuckerberg could owe upwards of $1 billion in damages.

Zuckerberg is throwing pro-athlete-level salaries at top AI researchers. But for many, prestige, trust, and tribal loyalties matter more.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is reportedly building a superintelligence team to develop artificial general intelligence, recruiting 50 experts amid competition with OpenAI and Google.

It’s easily the most expensive hire of all time, dwarfing the billions that Google spent to rehire Noam Shazeer and his core team from Character.AI (a deal Zuckerberg passed on). “Opportunities of this magnitude often come at a cost,” Wang wrote in his note to employees this week. “In this instance, that cost is my departure.”

Google is reportedly cutting ties with Scale AI after Meta acquired a 49% stake in the data-labeling startup, according to Benzinga. Google was previously Scale AI’s largest customer, and it is reportedly planning to end its relationship with the company.

KEY TAKEAWAYS Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly is building a team of 50 AI experts aimed at beating the company's tech rivals in achieving artificial general intelligence.Citing people familiar with Zuckerberg's plans,

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is taking control of the company’s artificial intelligence efforts by spearheading the creation of a “superintelligence” research team composed of the world’s top talent. The New York Times reports that he is even going as far as to rearrange Meta’s offices so the new hires sit next to him.

Mark Zuckerberg, frustrated with Meta Platforms Inc.’s shortfalls in AI, is assembling a team of experts to achieve artificial general intelligence, recruiting from a brain trust of AI researchers and engineers who’ve met with him in recent weeks at his homes in Lake Tahoe and Palo Alto.

The negotiations started as just one billionaire tech founder talking to another. Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg approached Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang in mid-April about a potentially industry-shaking deal.