Why a young Aussie has rejected a $1billion offer from Mark Zuckerberg

An Australian artificial intelligence expert has reportedly turned down a staggering billion-dollar offer from Mark Zuckerberg‘s Meta.

Andrew Tulloch, a University of Sydney graduate who grew up in Perth, spent more than a decade working at Facebook‘s parent company before joining rival OpenAI.

In February, Tulloch co-founded AI start-up Thinking Machines Lab with former OpenAI chief technology officer Mira Murati. The company is now reportedly valued at US$12 billion (A$18.5 billion).

According to the Wall Street Journal, Zuckerberg tried to buy Thinking Machines Lab earlier this year, but Murati rejected his offer. Meta’s CEO then attempted to lure the company’s top talent, including Tulloch.

Tulloch was allegedly offered a US$1 billion (A$1.55 billion) pay package spread over six years, with the potential for even more through bonuses and stock performance.

However, the Perth-born ‘genius’ turned the offer down. Meta later told the Journal the reported US$1 billion figure was ‘inaccurate and ridiculous’.

Mr Tulloch moved to the US in 2012 and spent 11 years at Facebook’s AI company, where he rose to the role of distinguished engineer. 

Mike Vernal, a former Facebook executive who worked with Mr Tulloch, said: ‘He was definitely known as an extreme genius.’

University of Sydney graduate Andrew Tulloch (pictured), raised in Perth, reportedly rejected a US$1 billion ($1.55 billion) from Mark Zuckerberg

Mark Zuckerberg (pictured), CEO of Meta, unsuccessfully attempted to buy AI start-up Thinking Machines Lab, co-founded by Australian Andrew Tulloch

In 2023, he moved to OpenAI, the research organisation behind ChatGPT, before joining former colleagues in forming Thinking Machines Lab this year.

The start-up cites its mission of making ‘AI systems more widely understood, customizable and generally capable’. 

Mr Tulloch was a vice captain at Christ Church Grammar in Claremont, Western Australia.

He achieved an ATAR of 99.95 in 2007 before graduating with first class honours and the university medal in mathematics at university in 2011.

He graduated with the highest GPA in the Faculty of Science. 

The Australian worked at Goldman Sachs as a quant while studying at the University of Cambridge. 

He completed a master’s in mathematical statistics and machine learning before embarking on his career in AI. 

Zuckerberg has a history of attempting to poach rival companies’ employees.

Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta branded the US$1 billion figure the company reportedly offered Andrew Tulloch ‘inaccurate and ridiculous’

OpenAI boss Sam Altman revealed in June that Meta had offered US$100million bonuses ($155million) to his staff in an unsuccessful bid to convince talent to switch teams. 

‘I’m really happy that at least so far none of our best people have decided to take them up on that,’ he said.

Sources have also said that Meta executives approached at least a dozen employees at Thinking Machines Lab earlier this year in an aggressive talent raid. So far, no one has accepted their offer. 

Tulloch and his team are said to be committed to the company’s mission of building safer and more customisable AI tools.

Company insiders say it is building powerful multimodal AI systems that can interpret text, speech and visuals in real time. 

It also aims to open-source parts of its technology to promote transparency and collaboration

According to reports, the 50-person startup raised a staggering $2 billion in seed funding within months, giving it a jaw-dropping valuation of $12 billion.

Backers include Silicon Valley heavyweights Andreessen Horowitz, Accel and Jane Street, as well as tech giants Nvidia, AMD and Cisco. 

The Albanian government, led by president Bajram Begaj, right, reportedly invested in Tulloch’s firm

Even the Albanian government chipped in, reportedly investing $10 million. Alongside Tulloch, key staff include John Schulman, who co-founded OpenAI, and safety researcher Lilian Weng.

At Cambridge, Tulloch graduated with a distinction in mathematics. 

When he was studying at the University of Sydney, he created an honours thesis on prediction markets. That won him an award for best mathematics thesis. 

He was also the recipient of the Joye Prize, which is ‘awarded annually to the most outstanding student completing fourth year Honours in Applied Mathematics, Pure Mathematics or Mathematical Statistics’. 

His social media suggests he is now based in San Francisco, California.