Meta poaches another Apple AI engineer despite AI hiring freeze

Meta has quietly recruited Frank Chu, a senior AI leader from Apple, navigating around its own hiring restrictions in the process. According to Bloomberg, Chu, who specialized in on-device AI at Apple, will join Meta’s Reality Labs, one of the company’s most high-stakes divisions, as it eyes AI superpowers across its platforms.

The timing is notable: Meta recently signaled a broader AI hiring freeze, citing industry-wide cost pressures and the need to consolidate its already swelling AI teams. Yet, key AI roles remain too vital to pass up. Chu isn’t the first Apple veteran to leap; earlier this year, Meta also welcomed another high profile Apple engineer focused on machine learning, signaling the battle for AI talent has shifted from “open floodgates” to “selective, strategic grabs,” as reported by Business Today.

For Meta, the rationale is clear. AI leadership and engineering expertise are essential asset classes in the competition for smarter hardware and immersive software, especially as the company invests in real time AI across its AR, VR, and smart device products. While the hiring freeze may keep the rank and file at bay, exceptional candidates like Chu are still getting golden tickets, illustrating just how high the stakes have become in Silicon Valley’s AI arms race.