A lawyer who used to represent Meta in its copyright battle against publishers is now admitting that the company's AI appears to have ingested pirated books — and if he's right, CEO Mark Zuckerberg could owe upwards of $1 billion in damages.

Zuckerberg is throwing pro-athlete-level salaries at top AI researchers. But for many, prestige, trust, and tribal loyalties matter more.

It’s easily the most expensive hire of all time, dwarfing the billions that Google spent to rehire Noam Shazeer and his core team from Character.AI (a deal Zuckerberg passed on). “Opportunities of this magnitude often come at a cost,” Wang wrote in his note to employees this week. “In this instance, that cost is my departure.”

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is reportedly building a superintelligence team to develop artificial general intelligence, recruiting 50 experts amid competition with OpenAI and Google.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said earlier this year that his company will be investing heavily in artificial intelligence in 2025. And on Thursday, he put his money where his mouth is, with the parent company of Facebook and Instagram investing $14.

Google is reportedly cutting ties with Scale AI after Meta acquired a 49% stake in the data-labeling startup, according to Benzinga. Google was previously Scale AI’s largest customer, and it is reportedly planning to end its relationship with the company.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is taking control of the company’s artificial intelligence efforts by spearheading the creation of a “superintelligence” research team composed of the world’s top talent. The New York Times reports that he is even going as far as to rearrange Meta’s offices so the new hires sit next to him.

Meta Platforms Inc. keeps writing bigger checks in pursuit of its artificial intelligence strategy, and traders keep cheering it on, encouraged that the expensive bets will keep paying off.