Hajra Naz
In the cutthroat race for artificial intelligence supremacy, tech giants are offering record-breaking salaries to secure top talent. Yet, in one of Silicon Valley’s most talked-about moments, Andrew Tulloch — co-founder of Thinking Machines Lab — made headlines by rejecting a personal recruitment offer from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg worth a staggering $1.5 billion over six years.
According to a report by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), the offer followed Meta’s unsuccessful $1 billion bid to acquire Tulloch’s AI startup. But Tulloch’s refusal wasn’t just a career choice — it was a symbolic stand in an AI industry power struggle where elite researchers increasingly choose independence over corporate mega-deals.
Inside Meta’s Failed Acquisition and Recruitment Blitz
The events began when Meta reportedly attempted to acquire Thinking Machines Lab, led by CEO Mira Murati — formerly Chief Technology Officer at OpenAI. When that deal fell through, Zuckerberg allegedly launched what insiders describe as a “full-scale raid”, targeting more than a dozen of the startup’s roughly 50 employees.
Meta’s outreach wasn’t limited to Thinking Machines. The WSJ claims the company has approached over 100 OpenAI employees in recent months, successfully hiring at least 10. Recruiters have also contacted talent from other AI leaders such as Anthropic — all part of Meta’s aggressive push to develop AI superintelligence that can rival OpenAI’s GPT models.
A Meta spokesperson, Andy Stone, denied parts of the report, calling the $1.5 billion figure “inaccurate and ridiculous” and clarifying that total compensation packages depend heavily on stock performance. He also rejected claims that Meta tried to acquire Thinking Machines.
Still, sources say Tulloch’s rejection sent shockwaves through the tech world, becoming a symbol of resistance against Big Tech’s dominance in AI hiring.
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Who is Andrew Tulloch?
Andrew Tulloch is an Australian computer scientist, mathematician, and machine learning expert whose career has spanned finance, social media, and cutting-edge AI research.
Academic Achievements
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Graduated with first-class honours in mathematics from the University of Sydney, earning the prestigious University Medal.
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Completed a master’s degree at Cambridge University.
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Began a PhD at UC Berkeley in machine learning and applied mathematics.
Career Path
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Early Career in Finance – Started at Goldman Sachs, working on quantitative models for financial markets.
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Meta / Facebook (2012–2023) – Spent 11 years developing core machine learning tools, including the now widely adopted PyTorch framework. He also worked on real-time ML systems and advanced advertising algorithms.
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OpenAI (2023–2025) – Contributed to the development of GPT-4, a breakthrough in large language model capabilities.
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Thinking Machines Lab (2025–Present) – Co-founded the AI startup alongside Mira Murati. Despite not yet launching a commercial product, the company is already valued at $12 billion.
The Thinking Machines Lab AI startup
Founded in early 2025, Thinking Machines Lab rose fast. It is now one of the most-watched AI startups worldwide. Its mission is clear:
Build next-generation AI systems.
These go beyond text generation. They focus on reasoning, planning, and real-world tasks. The founders are elite AI veterans. They come from OpenAI, Meta, and DeepMind . The team prioritizes AI safety and interpretability.
So far, no employee has joined Meta. Wired reports this shows strong culture and autonomy.
Why Tulloch Said “No” to Zuckerberg
Rejecting a $1.5 billion package — potentially one of the largest personal compensation deals ever offered in Silicon Valley — is rare. Tulloch’s decision reflects a broader shift among top-tier AI researchers:
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Mission Over Money – Prioritizing long-term innovation over short-term financial gain.
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Independence – Building technology without the strategic constraints of Big Tech.
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Equity in Vision – Belief that AI should be developed under principles that align with founders’ values, not just corporate profit motives.
In many ways, Tulloch’s move is reminiscent of early tech pioneers who turned down lucrative offers to pursue their own visions — decisions that, in hindsight, shaped entire industries.
The AI Talent War Heats Up
Tulloch’s rejection is part of a much larger AI talent war unfolding across Silicon Valley and beyond. Over the past 18 months:
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Google DeepMind has accelerated work on “world models” aimed at AGI.
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Anthropic has secured multi-billion-dollar investments from Amazon and Google.
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Meta has ramped up AI recruitment after launching LLaMA 3, an open-weight large language model.
AI researchers with proven track records in transformer models, reinforcement learning, and scaling laws have become as valuable as elite athletes—often commanding compensation packages in the hundreds of millions over multi-year contracts.
From LinkedIn Star to Industry Symbol
Tulloch’s LinkedIn profile has gone viral in the wake of the WSJ report. Screenshots of his resume—spanning Goldman Sachs, Meta, OpenAI, and Thinking Machines—are circulating as a “blueprint for AI career success.”
On his website, Tulloch documents his journey in detail, from his early work on Facebook’s machine learning infrastructure to his role in developing GPT-4.
A Defining Moment for Silicon Valley
Andrew Tulloch’s choice to reject one of tech’s richest offers marks a turning point in the AI era. It shows a shift in Silicon Valley. Talent is no longer always taken by the highest bidder.
The AI arms race is speeding up. The stakes are higher than ever. Tulloch’s story, and the rise of Thinking Machines Lab, could become a key chapter. It will shape how AI is built, who builds it, and the values it follows.
