Zuckerberg proposes a billion-dollar job transition offer
Andrew Tulloch, a renowned AI researcher and co-founder of Thinking Machines Lab (TML), has made headlines by declining a reported $1.5 billion offer from Meta, the tech giant formerly known as Facebook.
Tulloch, who holds a first-class honours degree and University Medal in mathematics from the University of Sydney, a Master’s in Mathematical Statistics from Cambridge, and a PhD from UC Berkeley, started his career at Goldman Sachs before moving to Meta in 2012. During his tenure, he significantly contributed to the development of the PyTorch framework.
In 2023, Tulloch left Meta to co-found TML, which has since become one of the most intriguing projects in the field of generative AI, valued at around 12 billion dollars. The competition for top AI talent is intense, with companies like Meta, Google, and OpenAI offering nine-figure salary packages over multiple years, similar to the bidding for NBA stars.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly attempted to acquire TML and launched a targeted poaching campaign to recruit key members of TML’s team, particularly interested in Tulloch. Despite Meta’s massive offer and efforts, Tulloch declined the proposal, choosing instead to remain with his own startup.
Other TML team members approached by Meta, including Lucas Beyer, Alexander Kolesnikov, and Xiaohua Zhai, also declined the offer, which reportedly included a compensation package worth up to 1.5 billion dollars over six years. Beyer has denied reports of a signing bonus of around $100 million.
Mira Murati, TML’s other co-founder, also reportedly turned down Zuckerberg’s offer to acquire TML. Shengjia Zhao, a key figure behind ChatGPT and GPT-4, moved directly from OpenAI to Meta, taking on the role of Chief Scientist at the Superintelligence Lab.
As of now, Tulloch has not publicly commented on why he turned down Meta’s offer. TML currently employs around 50 people and continues to make strides in the field of AI.
Sources:
[1] Thinking Machines Lab. (2025). About Us. Retrieved from https://thinkingmachines.ai/about
[2] Tulloch, A. (2025). Personal Interview.
[3] Zuckerberg, M. (2025). Press Conference Transcript. Retrieved from https://www.meta.com/press/transcripts/2025/07/15/press-conference-transcript/
What was Meta's offer to Andrew Tulloch and his team at TML, and why did they decline? Despite a reported compensation package worth up to 1.5 billion dollars over six years, Tulloch, along with team members Lucas Beyer, Alexander Kolesnikov, Xiaohia Zhai, and Mira Murati, turned down Meta's acquisition proposal, choosing instead to stay with their startup, TML, which specializes in finance, business, and technology, particularly in the field of generative AI.
