OpenAI has recruited Ruoming Pang, a senior artificial intelligence researcher who previously worked at Meta Platforms and Apple, in a move that highlights the intense competition for AI talent among major technology firms. The hiring was confirmed by an OpenAI spokesperson, according to a report by The Information.
Pang previously worked at Meta’s Superintelligence Labs, where he oversaw AI infrastructure for new-generation AI models. Pang left Meta last week after being hired by OpenAI over several months. Major technology companies are offering large compensation packages and aggressively hiring researchers as they compete to lead the next phase of AI development.
Before joining Meta in 2025, Pang led model development work at Apple. He was hired by Meta in 2025 with a compensation package reportedly valued at more than $200 million over several years, according to The Information. His departure is considered notable because Apple has been working to strengthen its artificial intelligence capabilities for consumer devices.
Who is Ruoming Pang?
Ruoming Pang is an experienced AI engineer who has worked at several leading technology companies. As per his professional profile on LinkedIn, he is currently a Member of Technical Staff at OpenAI and previously worked as an AI Research Scientist at Meta.
At Apple, where he worked for four years, Pang served as a Senior Distinguished Engineer and head of the Apple Foundation Model team, helping develop the large language models behind Apple Intelligence. Earlier in his career, he worked at Google for more than 15 years, where he contributed to speech recognition research and major AI systems.
Why is this hiring significant?
Pang’s moves comes amid a broader AI talent race in Silicon Valley where companies are competing to recruit experienced researchers with expertise building large-scale AI systems. As per Reuters, the aggressive hiring and multi-million dollar compensation packages have become common as companies try to strengthen AI capabilities.
According to The Information, Pang’s hiring follows several departures from Meta’s AI teams over the past year, even as Meta continues to recruit talent from competitors including OpenAI. The report also noted that Mat Velloso, who worked on developer platforms at Meta Superintelligence Labs, recently left the company after a short tenure.