In the ever-shifting landscape of artificial intelligence, one young entrepreneur is making waves by challenging the status quo of big tech. Shawn Shen, a 28-year-old former AI research scientist at Meta, has opened up about his reasons for leaving the social media behemoth and launching his own startup, Memories.ai. His story, as reported by Business Insider and The Indian Express, sheds light on the growing frustration among top AI researchers at major technology firms and the fierce competition for talent that is reshaping the industry.
Shen, who holds a PhD from Cambridge and previously worked on generative AI at Meta, described the company’s constant internal reorganizations as a major catalyst for his departure. "Meta is constantly doing reorganizations. Your manager and your goals can change every few months. For some researchers, it can be really frustrating and feel like a waste of time," Shen told Business Insider. He went on to explain that this lack of stability and long-term focus made it difficult for researchers to find fulfillment or make meaningful progress on their projects.
It’s not just Shen who feels this way. According to his account, many AI researchers at Meta and similar tech giants are seeking new opportunities, frustrated by what they see as bureaucratic inertia and shifting priorities. As Shen put it, "So yes, I think that's a driver for people to leave Meta and join other companies, especially startups." The desire to take on bigger risks and pursue more ambitious projects is fueling a migration of top-tier talent from established firms to nimble startups.
Shen’s new venture, Memories.ai, is focused on building AI systems that can "see and remember" like humans, a niche yet highly ambitious goal. The company is prioritizing talent acquisition, offering compensation packages of up to $2 million—primarily in equity—to attract elite researchers from Meta, Google DeepMind, Microsoft, Anthropic, and xAI. "Equity is where you can get a hundred or even a thousand times return in the future," Shen explained, emphasizing the long-term upside for those willing to bet on the startup’s success.
But why the emphasis on equity? Shen believes that treating new hires as founding members rather than mere employees is crucial to fostering a sense of ownership and commitment. "These individuals will be treated as founding members, not just employees," he stressed. Compensation packages are split between cash and equity, depending on the individual’s preferences and willingness to take a risk. This approach, Shen argues, helps preserve the company’s financial runway while aligning everyone’s interests toward long-term growth.
Memories.ai recently made headlines by hiring Chi-Hao Wu, Shen’s former manager at Meta, as Chief AI Officer. Wu, who previously worked on Meta’s generative AI team—now known as Meta Superintelligence Labs—brings deep expertise and credibility to the fledgling startup. Shen revealed, "We have already hired Eddy Wu, our Chief AI Officer who was my manager's manager at Meta. He's making a similar amount to what we're offering the new people." The company plans to add three to five more team members over the next six months, followed by another five to ten within a year, all while actively seeking additional funding to fuel its ambitious plans.
The backdrop to this talent migration is an increasingly competitive AI job market, where compensation packages for top researchers can reach eye-watering levels. Shen noted that some of his former colleagues at Meta have been offered deals worth tens of millions, a testament to the immense value placed on those at the cutting edge of AI development. "It's because of the talent war that was started by Mark Zuckerberg. I used to work at Meta, and I speak with my former colleagues often about this. When I heard about their compensation packages, I was shocked—it's really in the tens of millions range. But it shows that in this age, AI researchers who make the best models and stand at the frontier of technology are really worth this amount of money," Shen told Business Insider.
Meta’s own strategy has only intensified the competition. The formation of Meta Superintelligence Labs, a new division dedicated to pushing the boundaries of AI, has raised the stakes in the race for talent. Shen pointed to this development as a factor driving researchers to consider other options, including startups like his own. The lure of autonomy, creative freedom, and the potential for outsized rewards is proving irresistible to many.
Shen also referenced a statement from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg that has resonated with many in the tech world: "In an age that's evolving so fast, the biggest risk is not taking any risks. So why not do that and potentially change the world as part of a trillion-dollar company?" For Shen, this philosophy is at the heart of his decision to strike out on his own. He sees the current era as one of unprecedented opportunity—and risk—for those working at the frontier of AI.
Memories.ai’s mission is both ambitious and highly specialized: to build AI models capable of understanding and remembering visual data in a way that mimics human cognition. "The things that we are working on are very niche. So we are looking for people who are really, really good at the whole field of understanding video data," Shen explained. The company’s focus on a tightly defined problem space allows it to attract researchers who are passionate about pushing the boundaries of what AI can achieve.
For those joining Memories.ai, the promise isn’t just financial. Shen is offering a chance to shape the direction of a new company from the ground up, with the potential for enormous personal and professional growth. "We are already talking to a few other people from MSL and some others from Google DeepMind," he said, signaling that the startup is actively courting the best minds in the field.
Shen’s strategy of investing heavily in talent, he believes, will ultimately strengthen the company’s position in future fundraising rounds. By assembling a world-class team and giving them a stake in the outcome, he hopes to create a culture of innovation and agility that can outpace larger, more bureaucratic competitors.
As the AI talent war heats up, stories like Shen’s are becoming increasingly common. The combination of rapid technological change, fierce competition, and the allure of startup culture is reshaping the industry in real time. For researchers seeking to make their mark—and perhaps change the world—the biggest risk may indeed be not taking one at all.
With Memories.ai, Shen is betting that the future of artificial intelligence will be shaped not just by the largest companies, but by those willing to take bold risks and build something new from the ground up.
