Meta continues to expand its influence in Silicon Valley. According to Bloomberg, Mark Zuckerberg’s company has recently hired Frank Chu, a senior AI researcher from Apple, despite a recent announcement about a hiring freeze.
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Who is Frank Chu, the Sixth Apple Defector in Seven Weeks?
Frank Chu, previously leading Apple teams focused on cloud infrastructure, model training, and research, has joined Meta’s Superintelligence Labs, Zuckerberg’s new AI division. He is the sixth individual Meta has poached from Apple in just seven weeks, following the notable departure of Ruoming Pang, the former head of Apple’s foundation models
team.
Despite officially freezing hiring, Meta seems to be making exceptions for strategic AI profiles, underscoring its substantial investment in the field. This recruitment surge comes as Zuckerberg’s group undergoes its fourth internal restructuring of its AI teams in six months, a reshuffle deemed necessary to integrate these new talents and align with Zuckerberg’s ambitious vision.
The company also faces internal turbulence and emerging scandals. A recent Forbes article discussed an unstable organizational culture and numerous departures within its own AI teams.
Apple Weakened by Brain Drain
For Apple, these departures are fueling perceptions that the company is lagging in the AI race. During the third-quarter 2025 earnings call, Tim Cook had to address analysts’ concerns. A few days later, he held an internal meeting to promise massive investments to catch up.
However, with the ongoing talent migration to Meta showing no signs of slowing down, the challenge seems more daunting than ever. The question now is whether Apple can stop the erosion of its AI teams, or if Meta, with its billions, will continue to drain its key experts.