Meta Buys PlayAI, Moves Team Under New AI Boss Johan Schalkwyk

Meta has acquired PlayAI, a startup that specialises in voice technology, as part of its ongoing push to dominate the AI space. According to an internal memo obtained by Bloomberg, the full PlayAI team will be joining Meta and will now report to Johan Schalkwyk — the same man who recently came onboard from Sesame AI, another voice-focused startup.

Sources say the move is strategic, as Meta continues to build up its capabilities around AI-generated voices, digital characters, and audio tools for wearables and content creation. While the company didn’t reveal how much it paid for PlayAI, insiders confirm the deal is sealed.

PlayAI, known for creating natural-sounding voices and building tools that simplify voice creation, will now work directly with teams handling Meta AI and other AI projects. “Their work fits perfectly into our roadmap,” the memo reportedly said.

For those who’ve been following, this is not Meta’s first bold step this year. After its LLaMA 4 models dropped earlier and failed to gain the traction the company expected — especially with OpenAI and Google still miles ahead — Meta has doubled down on its AI strategy.

Just a few months ago, Mark Zuckerberg announced a new unit called Meta Superintelligence Labs, with a clear goal: to lead the race for artificial general intelligence. The division is being led by Alexandr Wang, the former Scale AI CEO, whose company Meta acquired for $14.3 billion.

But that’s not where it ends.

Meta is currently on a talent poaching spree — offering ridiculous incentives to attract the best minds in the AI world. Reports say the company has been dishing out bonuses as high as $100 million to pull engineers and researchers from rivals like OpenAI and Google. Some of the key brains behind GPT-4 and GPT-4o have reportedly made the switch.

And just recently, Meta landed Apple’s former top AI executive, Ruoming Pang. Word on the street is that his pay package is well over $200 million.

With this PlayAI deal and the other aggressive moves Meta has been making, it’s clear the company is not joking around. The battle for AI dominance just got even hotter.