Who is Shengjia Zhao? All You Need to Know About the Chief Scientist of Meta Superintelligence Lab

Shengjia Zhao is the main scientist of the Goal Superintelligence Laboratory. It is better known as the co-creator of ChatGPT, OpenAI GPT-4 and other AI models. 

Zhao obtained his bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Tsinghua. He spent a term studying at the University of Rice. 

Then he completed a doctorate in Computer Science at Stanford. After his doctorate, Zhao joined OpenAI in mid-2022. There, he helped build ChatGPT, GPT-4, GPT-4.1, O3 and the O1 reasoning engine.

 In July 2025, the goal appointed him as the chief scientist of his new Superintelligence Laboratory. He now leads the scientific direction of the laboratory. In this article, we will take a look at your education, career highlights, leadership role in the goal and its impact on AI research.

Who is Shengjia Zhao?

Shengjia Zhao is the leading scientist of the Goal Superintelligence Laboratory and co-creator of OpenAI’s ChatGPT and GPT-4. 

He holds a doctorate in Computer Science from Stanford University and has worked on advanced AI reasoning models. Zhao now leads goal efforts to Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).

Early Life & Education

Shengjia Zhao was born in China around 1995. He graduated in Computer Science from the University of Tsinghua, often called “MIT China”. 

He then spent a semester at the University of Rice, United States, to broaden his knowledge. He later completed a doctorate in Computer Science at Stanford University, with a strong focus on AI and machine learning.

Career

After his doctorate, in mid-2022, Zhao joined OpenAI as a research scientist. He helped create large AI models, including ChatGPT, GPT-4, GPT-4.1 and O3, and worked on the first model of reasoning at OpenAI, called O1.

In mid-2025, the goal appointed him chief scientist of his new Goal Superintelligence Laboratory. He co-founded the laboratory and leads his scientific work, guiding AI research on artificial general intelligence.

What did Shengjia Zhao do at OpenAI?

Zhao joined OpenAI in the summer of 2022, following the completion of his PhD at Stanford University.

Key Contributions

At OpenAI, Zhao was a key co-creator of ChatGPT, GPT-4, and smaller models like GPT-4.1 and o3. He also played a central role in developing the o1 reasoning model, which introduced new chain-of-thought reasoning approaches for AI.

Research Focus

Zhao’s work focused on enhancing the capabilities of AI models to think and reason. He helped develop methods for scaling models and improving their ability to solve complex tasks incrementally.

Impact

His work helped OpenAI release powerful AI tools used widely today. Models like ChatGPT and GPT-4 became key tools across education, business, and research. Zhao’s reasoning work set a foundation for better AI thinking across the industry.

Why is Shengjia Zhao now at Meta?

In July 2025, Meta officially named Shengjia Zhao as Chief Scientist of the newly created Superintelligence Lab.

Reasons for the Move

Meta is racing to build artificial general intelligence (AGI). Zhao’s track record in building advanced reasoning models and scaling AI made him a perfect fit. His appointment followed Meta’s aggressive hiring of top AI minds with high-value offers.

Role at Meta

Zhao co-founded the Meta Superintelligence Lab and leads its scientific strategy. He works closely with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang. The lab operates independently of Meta’s FAIR division, led by Yann LeCun.

Industry Impact

Zhao’s hiring shows Meta’s commitment to compete with OpenAI and DeepMind in the AGI race. Under his leadership, the lab will advance reasoning, model scaling, and the development of next-generation AI systems.

Conclusion

The appointment of Shengjia Zhao as a chief scientist at Goal Superintelligence Laboratory marks a milestone in the AI race. As co-creator of ChatGPT, GPT-4 and OpenAI’s pioneering reasoning model, it brings unmatched experience to the goal. 

Working directly with Mark Zuckerberg and Alexandr Wang, Zhao will shape the laboratory’s research agenda, unify AI objectives and efforts and direct progress toward artificial general intelligence. 

Its leadership highlights the company’s commitment to innovating in open source and intensifying competition with OpenAI and Google. While Zhao directs this ambitious journey, he becomes a crucial figure in defining the next border of intelligent systems and the future of AI.