Meta's super intelligence division is forming a dedicated hardware team and recruiting a senior engineer to lead it, marking a significant move in the company's deeper investment in AI hardware equipment. The Reality Labs unit, known for its smart glasses and virtual reality headsets, will see this new initiative operate under the Meta Superintelligence Lab (MSL). This high-profile AI department was announced last year, signaling Meta's plans to introduce other types of AI devices.
According to sources familiar with the matter, the plan had not been previously reported. Some Reality Labs engineers have already transitioned to MSL to prototype the AI department's software on Reality Labs hardware, with the two units collaborating closely. Meta is recruiting Rui Xu to serve as the hardware lead for MSL. Xu previously headed hardware operations at AI agent startup Dreamer, whose founding team was acquired by Meta last month.
Prior to joining Dreamer, Xu held the position of chief operating officer at robotics startup K-Scale, which ceased operations last year. Nat Friedman, head of product and applied research at MSL, had invested in K-Scale through AI Grant, a project he co-founded.
Currently, major technology firms including OpenAI are competing to develop truly AI-centric personal devices rather than mere smartphone alternatives.
In a February podcast, MSL lead Alexandr Wang stated that Meta aims to move beyond smartphones toward an era where everyone has personalized AI agents—these agents will be distributed across a "constellation" of devices surrounding users. Wang indicated that users will want their personal agents to accompany them in multiple ways, remaining always-on, seeing what they see and hearing what they hear. He added that the company plans to advance at an astonishing pace in the coming months.
