Meta's highly paid AI superstar leaves in less than a year, once turned down an offer of up to $1.5 billion

Beating AI News Flash: Meta AI researcher Andrew Tulloch is leaving, less than a year after returning to Meta from Mira Murati's Thinking Machines Lab. Tulloch worked at TBD Lab under Alexandr Wang, the core team of Zuckerberg's current AI strategy. According to Semafor, he had long been preparing to leave, but waited until Meta's new batch of open-source AI models and personal Agent Muse were released before departing.

In 2025, Meta offered Tulloch a compensation package worth up to $1.5 billion over at least 6 years, but he declined at the time. That figure included maximum bonuses and potential gains from a Meta stock surge. Months later, Tulloch still joined Meta, but Axios said the actual compensation was lower than the previous offer, and the specific amount was not disclosed.

Tulloch had previously worked at Meta for 11 years, moved to OpenAI in 2023, and later co-founded Thinking Machines Lab. His next destination remains unclear, and the reason for his departure has not been made public.