A prominent AI researcher is leaving Meta Platforms, marking the latest high-profile shakeup in the competitive artificial intelligence talent landscape. Andrew Tulloch, a well-known figure in the field, is set to depart the social media giant, according to sources familiar with the matter, with his next stop being AI safety-focused firm Anthropic.
His initial recruitment to Meta last year was considered a major coup for the company, closing out a period of intense and costly hiring sprees during the summer. At the time, Meta was aggressively wooing researchers with lucrative packages as it scrambled to close the gap in the AI race. The offer that lured Tulloch was reported to be worth over $1 billion, though he initially turned it down before ultimately joining months later for an undisclosed sum. He had previously spent 11 years at Meta, left in 2023 for OpenAI, and later co-founded Thinking Machines Lab.
A person familiar with the situation said Tulloch will join Anthropic, but he did not respond to requests for comment, and Meta declined to address his exit. His departure is just the latest in a series of notable talent moves across the industry. Last month, Google's chief scientist Jeff Dean and three other senior researchers left to start their own AI venture. This week, an Anthropic researcher resigned over concerns that his company and competitors were rushing to develop technology that humanity may eventually lose control of.
Tulloch is the third Thinking Machines co-founder to switch roles recently. Barret Zoph and Luke Metz, who had rejoined OpenAI after leaving Thinking Machines, departed that company last month as well. Zoph has since joined Google, while Metz has landed at Meta. The news of Tulloch's exit comes just one day after Meta unveiled a new general-purpose agent product designed to bring AI to the masses, which can send emails, make purchases, and complete tasks with user authorization. Meta has been working furiously to catch up in the AI race, rolling out competitive large language models and an ultra-low-cost coding agent in recent months.