Buying the Future: Zuckerberg’s Boldest Bet Yet
Zuck is doing what Tim Cook should be doing.
He’s not just betting on AI, he’s going to war for it.
In just the last few weeks, here’s what Meta has pulled off:
→ Tried to acquire Safe Superintelligence Inc. (SSI), a company barely a year old, for $32B
→ Got rejected by Ilya Sutskever, former OpenAI chief scientist
→ Pivoted to recruit Daniel Gross (SSI’s co-founder) and now Nat Friedman too
→ Is buying a minority stake in their venture firm, NFDG, and gaining indirect access to the next wave of AI founders
→ Hired Alexandr Wang (Scale AI) to lead Meta’s new Superintelligence Lab after investing $14.3B
→ Offering top researchers $50M–$100M+ comp to defect from OpenAI and Anthropic
It’s an all-out talent war.
And it sends a message:
In AI, you don’t win by being a fast follower.
You win by going first, hardest.
Zuck got the memo.
Apple (and Tim Cook) still haven’t.
What founders should take away:
This is not the time to sit back.
We’re living through the most important platform shift since the internet:
→ The best ideas are up for grabs
→ Capital is flowing
→ And the window to build something truly foundational is now
You need to be bold or get left behind.
He’s not just betting on AI, he’s going to war for it.
In just the last few weeks, here’s what Meta has pulled off:
→ Tried to acquire Safe Superintelligence Inc. (SSI), a company barely a year old, for $32B
→ Got rejected by Ilya Sutskever, former OpenAI chief scientist
→ Pivoted to recruit Daniel Gross (SSI’s co-founder) and now Nat Friedman too
→ Is buying a minority stake in their venture firm, NFDG, and gaining indirect access to the next wave of AI founders
→ Hired Alexandr Wang (Scale AI) to lead Meta’s new Superintelligence Lab after investing $14.3B
→ Offering top researchers $50M–$100M+ comp to defect from OpenAI and Anthropic
It’s an all-out talent war.
And it sends a message:
In AI, you don’t win by being a fast follower.
You win by going first, hardest.
Zuck got the memo.
Apple (and Tim Cook) still haven’t.
What founders should take away:
This is not the time to sit back.
We’re living through the most important platform shift since the internet:
→ The best ideas are up for grabs
→ Capital is flowing
→ And the window to build something truly foundational is now
You need to be bold or get left behind.
Mark Zuckerberg is doing what no one else in tech can do.
In just the last few months, he’s spent over $16 billion to dominate AI—and he’s doing it with speed, scale, and absolute control:
✅ Took a 49% stake in Scale.ai (valued ~$15B) just to bring on founder Alex Wang as Meta’s new Chief AI Officer
✅ Offered $100M+ signing bonuses to poach elite researchers from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google
✅ Bought a large share of Nat Friedman’s VC fund to bring him and Daniel Gross into Meta to co-lead applied AI
This isn’t a roadmap. This isn’t a five-year plan. This is happening now.
He’s assembled the Avengers of AI within Meta.
Other tech giants are spending billions, too. But none of them have the founder control, cash engine, and conviction to do what Zuck just did.
He’s not partnering with AI.
He’s not outsourcing it.
He’s owning it.
Meta is now a generational force in AI. And honestly?
In just the last few months, he’s spent over $16 billion to dominate AI—and he’s doing it with speed, scale, and absolute control:
✅ Took a 49% stake in Scale.ai (valued ~$15B) just to bring on founder Alex Wang as Meta’s new Chief AI Officer
✅ Offered $100M+ signing bonuses to poach elite researchers from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google
✅ Bought a large share of Nat Friedman’s VC fund to bring him and Daniel Gross into Meta to co-lead applied AI
This isn’t a roadmap. This isn’t a five-year plan. This is happening now.
He’s assembled the Avengers of AI within Meta.
Other tech giants are spending billions, too. But none of them have the founder control, cash engine, and conviction to do what Zuck just did.
He’s not partnering with AI.
He’s not outsourcing it.
He’s owning it.
Meta is now a generational force in AI. And honestly?