Sam Altman says top OpenAI engineers have turned down Meta’s massive offers, but the battle is intensifying
Meta has reportedly offered $100 million signing bonuses to OpenAI engineers in a bold attempt to lure top AI talent. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed the poaching efforts during a podcast with his brother, claiming “giant offers” were made, but none of the company’s “best people” have left—yet.
The recruitment push follows Meta’s $14.3 billion investment in Scale AI and the hiring of its founder, Alexandr Wang, to lead Meta’s new superintelligence unit.
Altman said Meta considers OpenAI its top competitor and is going all-in to catch up in the AI race. “At least so far, none of our best people have decided to take them up on that,” he added.
Meta declined to comment on the report. However, analysts say the compensation reflects how AI’s future hinges on a small number of elite researchers—what some now call “AI athletes.”
“We’re just going to try to copy OpenAI… that basically never works,” Altman said, taking a shot at Meta’s strategy.
“You don’t build a culture of innovation that way.”
This surge in AI hiring offers isn’t isolated. Meta has also reportedly poached Jack Rae, a principal DeepMind researcher, while delaying its own next-gen LLMs.
Meanwhile, Altman highlighted that OpenAI’s mission and culture are what keep talent in place, not just cash: “We have a really special culture, and people are here to build AGI.”
- The AI arms race is accelerating across Silicon Valley.
- OpenAI, Meta, Google, and others are battling not just on models, but for brainpower.
- Analysts warn that as tech giants throw billions into recruitment, the cost of innovation may push talent loyalty and ethics into uncharted waters.
This talent war marks the beginning of a new AI era—one where the biggest check doesn’t always win, but where every hire could tip the scales.
