Meta has been aggressively pursuing AI talent from top labs, mostly OpenAI, in an effort to get a leg up on its competition. The details of the developing story are so dramatic and foreign to the rest of the world that it's become stranger-than-fiction fodder for the internet watching it unfold in real time.

Meta’s push to poach OpenAI talent sparks internal turmoil, bold countermeasures, and a heated battle over the future of artificial general intelligence.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman pushed back Monday against Meta’s recent hiring spree, which included several former OpenAI researchers, calling the rival company’s tactics “distasteful” and warning of looming cultural issues.