Meta Offered $100 Million Bonuses to OpenAI Staff, Reveals Sam Altman

In a striking revelation, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman disclosed that Meta has made aggressive attempts to lure away some of OpenAI’s top engineers, offering them massive compensation packages reportedly reaching $100 million. Speaking on the Unconfuse Me podcast hosted by Bill Gates, Altman stated that Meta is offering not just generous salaries but also staggering signing bonuses to OpenAI employees in a bid to attract top AI talent.

According to Altman, these offers are “real and happening,” with the most valued engineers being offered total packages that could cross the $100 million mark. However, despite these tempting offers, Altman claimed that none of OpenAI’s top people have accepted them yet. He emphasized the intense competition in the artificial intelligence space, likening it to the world of professional sports, where star players are aggressively recruited.

This revelation underscores the escalating talent war in the AI industry. With major players like Meta, Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI all racing to build advanced AI systems, securing the best minds has become a top priority. Companies are willing to spend extraordinary amounts of money to hire AI researchers and engineers who can contribute to breakthroughs in large language models and superintelligence projects.

Meta’s pursuit of AI dominance has been especially aggressive. The company recently poured $14.3 billion into Scale AI, a startup focused on data labeling, and hired its founder, Alexandr Wang, to lead its new AI research unit focused on building artificial general intelligence (AGI). While Meta has made strides in open-source AI development, it still trails in releasing major foundation models compared to competitors like OpenAI and Google.

In summary, Altman’s comments not only highlight Meta’s bold recruitment strategy but also reflect the growing stakes in the global AI race, where talent is now among the most valuable assets.