Andrew Talbot, a co - founder of Thinking Machines Lab—an artificial intelligence startup helmed by Mira Murati, the former Chief Technology Officer of OpenAI—has bid farewell to the company and is now on board at Meta. On Friday, Talbot broke the news of his decision via internal communication channels. A spokesperson for the company clarified that Talbot opted for a different career trajectory due to personal factors. In the past, Meta's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, has been on a relentless quest to recruit top - tier AI talent. He even showed a keen interest in acquiring Thinking Machines Lab. However, the acquisition deal didn't materialize. Subsequently, Meta made an attempt to lure Talbot away with an enticing compensation package, which some sources suggest could reach as high as $1.5 billion. But a Meta spokesperson quickly dismissed the related offer as "wildly inaccurate and downright absurd." It's worth noting that Talbot has an impressive track record in the AI field. He has previously worked in the AI research divisions of both OpenAI and Facebook (now part of Meta).