Meta Lures OpenAI Researchers, Prompting Internal Shakeup

OpenAI is fighting to keep its top researchers as Meta aggressively recruits with huge bonuses, sparking an internal shakeup over compensation.

The competition between OpenAI and Meta has intensified, with Meta successfully recruiting at least eight leading researchers from OpenAI during the past few weeks, as reported by WIRED. OpenAI executives, including Chief Research Officer Mark Chen and CEO Sam Altman, have reacted strongly to the situation.

“I feel a visceral feeling right now, as if someone has broken into our home and stolen something,” Chen wrote in a company Slack memo obtained by WIRED. He assured staff that OpenAI leadership hasn’t “been standing idly by,” and said they’re “recalibrating comp” and “scoping out creative ways to recognize and reward top talent.”

WIRED notes that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has allegedly offered $100 million signing bonuses to recruit AI researchers, an amount Altman recently referenced in a podcast. Multiple sources at OpenAI have confirmed the figure, but Meta executives have denied it through internal channels.

“We’ve been more proactive than ever before,” Chen said, adding that OpenAI leaders have been “working around the clock” to speak with employees who’ve received offers, as reported by WIRED. He also emphasized fairness, writing, “While I’ll fight to keep every one of you, I won’t do so at the price of fairness to others.”

The pressure is high, as OpenAI staff members are working 80-hour weeks before starting a company-wide break for rest. A warning from Chen suggests that Meta plans to use the upcoming downtime to make job offers directly to isolated OpenAI employees.

Despite the staffing challenges, Chen reminded the team that the company’s main goal is artificial general intelligence. “Skirmishes with Meta are the side quest,” he wrote, as reported by WIRED. Altman responded with support: “Very grateful we have him as our leader!” WIRED added, that both OpenAI and Meta declined to comment.