Not just Meta, this popular Chinese tech company has also hired AI researcher from OpenAl

Tencent Holdings – the Shenzhen-based gaming and messaging company – has reportedly hired a prominent artificial intelligence (AI) researcher from OpenAI, marking one of the most high-profile defections from the US AI sector to China. Citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reported that Tencent recruited Yao Shunyu to work on integrating AI into its various services.

Yao's LinkedIn profile shows he most recently worked at OpenAI after holding positions at Google, Microsoft IBM, and Princeton University. Local media reports suggested Yao was offered a compensation package of over 100 million yuan.

In a post on its WeChat account, Tencent labeled a headline about the hiring as a “rumor” but did not specify which details were inaccurate.

Meta hired OpenAI researchers for its Superintelligence team

This move highlights the intense global competition for AI talent, with companies like Meta reportedly offering massive signing bonuses to top researchers.

In June, reports said that four OpenAI researchers left the company to go to Meta. Shengjia Zhao, Shuchao Bi, Jiahui Yu and Hongyu Ren joined the Facebook parent company, Wired reported. A month later, it was reported that Meta acquired two more high-profile researchers from OpenAI – Jason Wei and Hyung Won Chung.

However, there have been reports which claim that the Superintelligence team is already witnessing cracks and various new hires have left the team. Wired reported that two of the team members have returned to OpenAI, where they both previously worked, after less than one-month stints at Meta.

Rishab Agarwal, Chaya Nayak, Avi Verma, Ethan Knight are some of the AI researchers that reportedly left their high-paying jobs at Meta.