ChatGPT maker OpenAI plays ‘UNO Reverse,’ poaches top AI talent from Meta and other rivals

UNO Reverse: OpenAI gets back at Meta for poaching its key talent and takes aim at other top AI firms too.

It appears that it is not only Meta that has been poaching AI talent across the tech industry; OpenAI has now entered the scene. The company has reportedly poached engineers from rival companies, including Tesla, xAI, and, ironically, Meta.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman looks set to challenge Meta's poaching tactics. (AFP)

By Shaurya Sharma

Shaurya Sharma is the Technology Editor at Hindustan Times Digital Streams, where he oversees technology coverage across digital and social platforms. With over eight years of experience across editorial, video production, and digital media, his work focuses on smartphones, AI, consumer gadgets, and shaping audience-first content strategies for modern tech consumers.

He began his career in 2018 as a fashion cinematographer before turning his lifelong passion for technology into a profession. From spending his childhood immersed in tech magazines, video games, and the latest gadgets to covering the global consumer tech industry today, technology has remained a constant throughout his journey.

Over the years, Shaurya has worked with some of India’s leading media organisations, including CNN-News18, Sportskeeda, and Guiding Tech, where he led video initiatives that combined strong editorial storytelling with engaging visual and social-first execution.

A graduate in Journalism and Mass Communication from Manipal University, Shaurya has reviewed hundreds of products across categories including smartphones, laptops, gaming consoles, cameras, and wearables. Beyond work, he is passionate about animal welfare, environmental causes, and automobiles, particularly turbo-petrol cars

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According to a report by Wired, here is a list of the new hires by the ChatGPT maker, OpenAI:

• Uday Ruddarraju, who formerly worked at Elon Musk's xAI.
• Mike Dalton, also from xAI.
• David Lau, previously the Vice President of Software Engineering at Tesla.
• Angela Fan, a Facebook AI researcher at Meta.

Wired reports that this information originates from a Slack message sent by OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman.

High Profile Talent Poached By ChatGPT Maker OpenAI

According to the report, Ruddarraju and Dalton worked at xAI on building a 2,00,000 GPU supercomputer called Colossus, which was also reportedly used to train the Grok AI.

“After an unforgettable ride, I’ve decided to move on from xAI and yesterday was my last day,” Ruddarraju wrote on Linkedin, confirming his departure from xAI.

As for Angela Fan, who worked at Meta, her LinkedIn profile indicates she is based in Paris, France, and has been working as a research scientist in Facebook AI Research. In total, she has spent nine years at Meta. Before joining Meta, she was a data science intern at Riot Games and obtained her bachelor's degree in statistics from Harvard University.

The AI Talent War Is Heating Up

Recently, it was learned that Meta had been poaching AI talent from across the industry by offering millions of dollars in compensation. Reports suggest that Meta has secured several talented individuals by offering them multi-million dollar contracts, especially from OpenAI.

Meta reportedly hired Trapit Bansal, Lucas Beyer, Xiaohua Zhai, and Yuanzhi Li from OpenAI, with Mark Zuckerberg offering lucrative salaries to lure top talent. So, it’s only fitting that OpenAI pulled a UNO reverse on Meta.

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