In a significant talent shift within Silicon Valley’s ongoing AI arms race, Apple’s top executive overseeing its foundation AI models, Ruoming Pang, is reportedly exiting the company to join Meta Platforms, according to a Bloomberg report citing insider sources.

Pang, who played a pivotal role in shaping Apple’s internal AI development, is set to join Meta’s newly formed “superintelligence” division—an initiative at the heart of the company’s aggressive AI expansion. His new role is said to come with a multi-million-dollar compensation package, underscoring the fierce competition for elite AI expertise among tech giants.

Neither Apple nor Meta has issued an official statement on the move.

Pang’s departure signals a broader trend in the tech industry, where top AI researchers and executives are being courted with lucrative offers amid a race to dominate the future of artificial intelligence. Meta, in particular, has been rapidly scaling up its AI efforts, rebranding its initiatives under the newly minted Meta Superintelligence Labs.

The lab will be led by Alexandr Wang, the 28-year-old former CEO of Scale AI, a data-labeling startup that recently received a hefty investment from Meta. Wang now serves as Meta’s Chief AI Officer, tasked with steering the company’s next-generation AI initiatives.

Meta’s investment in Scale AI last month, which valued the company at $29 billion, was seen as a strategic move to gain an edge in the training of large language models—core infrastructure for advanced generative AI.

Pang’s move is a notable loss for Apple, which has kept its AI developments mostly under wraps while rivals like Meta, OpenAI, and Google aggressively tout their advancements. With key talent like Pang switching teams, the pressure is on for Apple to reinforce its own AI leadership as the industry rapidly evolves.