San Francisco, CA – April 25, 2026 – Meta’s loss is becoming Thinking Machines Lab’s gain. The AI startup has poached a senior researcher from Meta, marking another shift in the ongoing talent war between the two companies. Weiyao Wang, who spent eight years at Meta, left the social media giant last week. He now works at Thinking Machines Lab (TML).
Thinking Machines Lab Hires Key Meta AI Researcher
Wang was one of Meta’s top researchers. He helped build multimodal perception systems. He also contributed to open-world segmentation projects, including SAM3D. His move is not isolated. It is part of a broader trend. TML is aggressively hiring from Meta. The startup’s headcount now stands at around 140 people.
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According to a review of LinkedIn profiles, TML has hired more researchers from Meta than from any other single employer. The most prominent is Soumith Chintala, TML’s CTO. He spent 11 years at Meta. He co-founded PyTorch, the open-source deep learning framework that underpins most AI research. Chintala left Meta in late 2025. He was appointed CTO earlier this year.
Google Cloud Deal Boosts TML’s Infrastructure
TML’s hiring spree comes with major infrastructure backing. The startup signed a multibillion-dollar cloud deal with Google. The agreement was announced at Google Cloud Next on Tuesday. It gives TML access to Nvidia’s latest GB300 chips. This puts TML in the same infrastructure tier as Anthropic and Meta. The deal follows an earlier partnership with Nvidia.
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This suggests TML is building serious compute power. Industry watchers note that access to leading hardware is a major draw for top AI talent. Researchers want to work on the best systems. TML now offers that.
Meta’s Talent Poaching Efforts Continue
But the talent flow is not one-way. Meta has also been active. Business Insider reported last week that Meta poached seven of TML’s founding members. Meta reportedly held talks to acquire Thinking Machines around this time last year. The company has been picking off TML’s founders one by one.
Meta’s pay packages are well known. They offer seven figures, no strings attached. For researchers weighing options, the calculus may be simple. TML is valued at $12 billion. That figure would have been unimaginable for a company at this stage in any previous tech cycle. It has released just one product so far. But compared with OpenAI and Anthropic’s valuations, there is still financial upside.
Other Key Hires from Meta
Several other Meta veterans have joined TML. Piotr Dollár, an 11-year Meta veteran, served as research director. He co-authored the influential Segment Anything model. He is now on TML’s technical staff. Andrea Madotto, a research scientist in Meta’s FAIR division, joined TML in December. James Sun, a software engineer with nearly nine years at Meta, also made the jump.
TML’s Broader Talent Acquisition Strategy
TML has drawn talent from beyond Meta. Neal Wu, a three-time gold medalist at the International Olympiad in Informatics, joined early this year. He was a founding member of the coding startup Cognition. Jeffrey Tao came via Waymo, Windsurf, and OpenAI. Muhammad Maaz previously held a research fellowship at Anthropic. Erik Wijmans arrived from Apple. Liliang Ren spent two and a half years on Microsoft’s AI Superintelligence team.
This suggests TML is building a diverse team. The implication is that the startup is not just copying Meta’s approach. It is drawing from a wide range of AI research areas. This could signal a strategy to innovate across multiple fronts.
What This Means for the AI Talent Market
The talent picture remains fluid. The back-and-forth between Meta and TML is a microcosm of the broader AI talent market. Top researchers are in high demand. They can command high salaries and significant equity stakes. The competition for talent is intensifying.
Data from LinkedIn shows that AI researchers are increasingly moving to startups. They are leaving big tech companies. The appeal is the chance to build something new. Startups offer more autonomy and potential for impact. They also offer financial upside through equity.
Conclusion
Thinking Machines Lab is rapidly expanding its team. It is drawing top talent from Meta and other tech giants. The startup’s Google cloud deal gives it the infrastructure to compete. Meta is fighting back with its own poaching efforts. But for now, TML appears to be winning the talent war. The startup’s valuation of $12 billion suggests investors are betting on its future. The next few months will show whether TML can turn its talent into products.
FAQs
Q1: Who is Weiyao Wang and why did he leave Meta?
Weiyao Wang spent eight years at Meta as a researcher. He worked on multimodal perception systems and SAM3D. He left Meta last week to join Thinking Machines Lab. His move is part of a broader talent shift from Meta to the startup.
Q2: What is the Google cloud deal with Thinking Machines Lab?
Thinking Machines Lab signed a multibillion-dollar cloud deal with Google. The agreement was announced at Google Cloud Next. It gives TML access to Nvidia’s GB300 chips. This puts TML in the same infrastructure tier as Anthropic and Meta.
Q3: How many people does Thinking Machines Lab employ?
The startup’s headcount now stands at around 140 people. It has been hiring aggressively from Meta and other companies. The team includes researchers from Meta, Apple, Microsoft, and Anthropic.
Q4: Is Meta also poaching talent from Thinking Machines Lab?
Yes. Meta has poached seven of TML’s founding members. Meta reportedly held talks to acquire TML around this time last year. The talent flow runs in both directions.
Q5: What is the valuation of Thinking Machines Lab?
Thinking Machines Lab is valued at $12 billion. This is high for a startup that has released just one product. But it is lower than the valuations of OpenAI and Anthropic. Investors see significant upside.
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