Meta is throwing money around like it’s Monopoly cash, and OpenAI is the target. According to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Meta’s been offering signing bonuses of up to $100 million, alongside annual compensation packages that could outshine that. Sounds like Meta's doing whatever it takes to poach top AI talent, right?
Altman spilled the beans on Monday’s “Uncapped” podcast, hosted by none other than his brother, Jack Altman. He mentioned that Meta had been making giant offers to a lot of people on their team. But, plot twist, none of OpenAI's “best people” have taken the bait. Classic “we’re too good for this” move, huh? I guess it’s pretty hard to leave when you’re on top of the AI game, especially with the likes of OpenAI pulling the strings.
And just when you thought it couldn’t get more dramatic, it turns out CEO Mark Zuckerberg is personally involved in the recruitment process. We’re talking emails, quick offers, and even hosting meetings at his private residences in Lake Tahoe and Palo Alto. Sounds like Zuckerberg is playing the role of the AI talent hunter, showing up like some Silicon Valley Sherlock Holmes to snatch up the best brains in the biz. I mean, I believe no one’s safe from those huge offers!
The AI Talent War - Meta’s Strategy and the Bigger Picture
Meta’s relentless recruiting efforts seem to back up a report from The Information last year, which hinted at Zuckerberg’s aggressive talent poaching methods. But here’s the kicker: Altman’s claims are still unconfirmed, and neither Meta nor OpenAI has responded to requests for comment. So, take this all with a grain of salt, folks.
Meanwhile, Meta is pouring billions into catching up in the AI race. Last week, they invested $14 billion into Scale AI, a data-labelling startup, hoping to make up some ground. They even created a “superintelligence division” led by 26-year-old Alexandr Wang, Scale’s founder. Meta’s not playing around; they’re serious about catching up with the AI heavyweights. I guess they’re banking on the idea that throwing money at the problem will eventually pay off. But will it?
But, of course, the war for AI talent has turned into a bidding frenzy. With the demand for top-tier AI brains, compensation is hitting insane levels. Data from venture capital firm SignalFire shows some crazy stats: Anthropic’s two-year retention rate is at 80%, DeepMind at 78%, and OpenAI at 67%. Clearly, the top dogs are holding onto their talent like it’s gold.
Still, despite Meta’s $2 million-per-year AI talent budget, they’re still losing talent to rivals like OpenAI and Anthropic. It’s like an expensive game of musical chairs, and Meta’s just left standing. I guess Meta is learning the hard way that money doesn’t always buy loyalty, huh?
Meta is currently offering $2M+/yr in offers for AI talent and still losing them to OpenAI and Anthropic. Heard ~3 such cases this week.
— Deedy (@deedydas) June 10, 2025
The AI talent wars are absolutely ridiculous.
Today, Anthropic has the highest ~80% retention 2 years in and is the #1 (large) company top AI… pic.twitter.com/YSv5UNV5H2
And as if that wasn’t enough drama, some smaller players, like Hugging Face, are snatching up researchers from the bigger firms. Meanwhile, Safe Superintelligence (SSI), founded by former OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, is offering crazy retention packages with $2 million bonuses and equity increases of $20 million or more. Naturally, that caught the U.S. government’s eye, and three senators questioned the ethics of these massive offers. Guess it’s not all sunshine and rainbows in the AI talent war!
In the end, Meta is spending big to win the AI race, but will these colossal offers really make a difference? Only time will tell. But hey, it’s clear the stakes are high, and the competition is way hotter than a Silicon Valley summer.
Emily Johnson
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