As part of its far-reaching artificial intelligence plans, Meta Platforms, Inc. is said to be considering former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman to come to the company in a senior position.
Such a move – subject to change, as the talks are private and ongoing – would represent a major strategic turn for Meta as it looks to ramp up development of its AI systems and more widely encode advanced AI powers into its sprawling ecosystem of social media properties and metaverse ambitions.
Nat Friedman, a leader in the tech community for his role with GitHub and his deep knowledge of developer ecosystems and open-source software, has a history of involvement with transformative technology.
During his tenure at GitHub, the company grew and evolved through its acquisition by Microsoft. His potential arrival at Meta could be particularly timely given the billions of dollars the company has been pouring into AI R&D in an effort to stay on par with rivals including Google and OpenAI.
The sources familiar with the talks say Friedman’s remit at Meta would be focus around the AI product strategy, including in developer relations — or perhaps in running new AI-centric companies.
His experience in scaling platforms and nurturing active communities is a good fit with Meta’s desire to integrate AI deeply into what consumers of its platforms experience, and for developers building upon them.
“Having someone like Nat Friedman would be a huge win for Meta,” said Anya Singh, an analyst for the tech industry. “His experience cutting through complex tech landscapes and his demonstrated track record of catalyzing innovation, especially in a developer-centric culture, is exactly what Meta needs as it charts an ambitious future with AI.
This is not simply hiring a technologist, this is staffing a strategic leader that knows how to take cutting-edge research and bring it to market in a widely adopted way.”
Meta’s aggressive bet on AI is reflected in its bets on large language models, generative AI and cutting-edge AI research to realize its metaverse dream. A leader like Freidman could help to more clearly coordinate these projects, discover new ones and expedite the commercialization of any sort of AI breakthroughs out of Meta.
There has been no official confirmation, but the potential of Friedman joining Meta has already set in motion a flurry of excitement, reflecting the growing hiring war in the field of AI and Meta’s commitment to coming out on top. If the hire does go through, it could have a major impact on the direction of Meta’s AI ambitions.