Meta $100M Bonuses Target OpenAI Talent in Aggressive AI Recruitment War
Reportedly offering massive bonuses—up to $100 million—to entice top engineers from OpenAI, Meta has taken a bold action to improve its position in the artificial intelligence race. Speaking on the Uncapped podcast hosted by his brother, Altman disclosed the degree of Meta’s aggressive recruitment initiatives, which he claims have so far failed to convince top talent of OpenAI to change teams.
Companies are providing hitherto unheard-of pay packages to attract top researchers seen as essential to create innovative artificial intelligence models as competition for AI knowledge grows. “They began offering a lot of people on our team enormous offers,” Altman said on the June 17 Uncapped episode. “More than that in annual pay; $100 million signing bonuses.”
Notwithstanding these massive offers, Altman boldly said, “none of our best people have decided to take them up on that”—at least not yet. “I’ve heard that Meta considers us as their biggest competitor,” he said.
Meta’s Superintelligence Ambitions Fuel Aggressive Hiring
The Meta $100M Bonuses Target strategy is part of the tech giant’s broader effort to build a formidable superintelligence unit that can rival leaders in the field, including OpenAI, Google, China’s DeepSeek, and others. According to Reuters, Meta’s recent aggressive moves highlight the growing frenzy to recruit AI engineers capable of developing the next generation of AI technologies.
Just days prior to Altman’s remarks, Meta announced a major investment in the data-labeling startup Scale AI, spending $14.3 billion to acquire a 49% stake in the company. This acquisition not only boosts Meta’s AI capabilities but also brings Scale AI’s CEO, Alexandr Wang, into the fold to head its superintelligence initiative. Wang confirmed that several employees from Scale AI will transition to Meta as part of the deal.
Meta Faces Setbacks Amidst Fierce AI Rivalry
Once praised as a leader in open-source artificial intelligence models, Meta has suffered several setbacks recently including significant staff departures and delays in introducing new models that might directly threaten rivals. Meta’s AI agenda is still being advanced, but internal strife has made its goal ever more challenging. Still, the Meta $100M Bonuses Target shows how ready the business is to go to great lengths to close the discrepancy.
Meta has not publicly responded to these allegations; Reuters notes that it could not have independently confirmed Altman’s claims. Still, the growing bidding war emphasizes just how important top artificial intelligence talent is since researchers are being sought after like elite athletes able to shape the direction of artificial intelligence.
