Wall Street is pushing for more clarity on Mark Zuckerberg’s top secret “superintelligence lab” inside Meta, as the chief executive pours billions of dollars into an all-out AI hiring blitz and building the infrastructure to support his ambitions. 

Zuckerberg has wielded nine-figure sign-on bonuses to poach artificial intelligence talent from OpenAI, Apple and Google in recent weeks in an overhaul of his strategy for Meta to become an “AI leader” after the company’s models started to lag rivals.

The chief executive’s aim, according to people familiar with his thinking, is to create a start-up-like unit within Meta focused on developing advanced AI technology that is unencumbered by the bureaucracy of the $1.8tn company — but supported by its well-capitalised business.