Who is Daniel Gross? Tech veteran joins Meta’s superintelligence lab as Zuckerberg ramps up AI hiring

By The Tech Standard team On Jul 7, 2025

Daniel Gross is a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, investor, and AI expert who has just joined Meta Platforms’ superintelligence lab, part of Mark Zuckerberg’s push to attract top AI talent and advance toward artificial general intelligence (AGI).

Gross was previously the co-founder and CEO of Safe Superintelligence Inc. (SSI), an AI startup focused on building safe, aligned superintelligence, which he launched alongside Ilya Sutskever, former OpenAI chief scientist. Gross stepped down from SSI this week, handing the CEO role to Sutskever.

At Meta, Gross will help lead AI product development within the company’s newly restructured superintelligence unit. He joins other prominent hires, including Nat Friedman, former GitHub CEO and Gross’s longtime collaborator, and Alexandr Wang, ex-Scale AI CEO.

Gross has a notable track record in the tech world:

Co-founded Cue, an AI-powered search app acquired by Apple in 2013.
Worked at Apple (2013–2017) on AI and search initiatives.
Became a partner at Y Combinator, mentoring startups.
Co-founded NFDG, a venture capital firm with Nat Friedman, which Meta reportedly seeks to invest in.

His move underscores Zuckerberg’s personal effort to assemble a world-class AI team, reportedly even hosting recruits at his homes in Palo Alto and Lake Tahoe to court them.

Gross is known for his early work in AI, his successful startup exits, and his deep ties in the venture and research communities — making him a key figure in Meta’s bid to dominate the next generation of AI technology.