OpenAI boss Sam Altman has said that Meta is trying to get OpenAI staff to join their AI team with very big pay deals. In a YouTube chat, Altman claimed that Meta is giving sign-on money as much as $100 million to top tech folks, with even bigger yearly pay, showing how much Meta wants to push in AI.
In the talk with his brother, Jack Altman, they spoke about Meta buying Scale AI. Sam Altman said on Meta's push, "I’ve heard that Meta sees us as their top rival, and it makes sense for them to keep trying. Their AI work has not gone as well as they wanted, and I respect their drive to keep trying new things."
He went on about how Meta is trying to get people: "They started with these huge offers to many on our team, like $100 million sign-on money, more than that each year." Altman is glad that, until now, key OpenAI folks have not taken these deals, showing they see a better chance to reach AI super-smarts and maybe bigger rewards in the long run at OpenAI.
The tight race for AI know-how is clear as firms spend a lot on AI tools and the people needed to use them. Past news said Meta was losing AI staff despite high pay, with some going to rivals like OpenAI. Altman's words hint that Meta might have upped their offers to top AI engineers to boost their plans.
Sam Altman knocked Meta's focus on money over mission and work setting, hinting this way might not build a strong firm feel. He thinks this is why people choose to stick with OpenAI, even with Meta's big money offers.
"I hope we can be the top place to do this research," Altman said. "I think we make a unique feel for it... I think it’s lined up with mission first, economic gains next, and all else follows."
OpenAI staff staying, despite Meta's big offers, could be due to a few reasons. For folks already making a lot, even more money might not be worth the risks of moving to a firm seen as behind in AI progress.
Also, OpenAI and its team are sure they can reach full AI smarts (AGI) and then AI super-smarts (ASI). Winning here could bring rewards far over Meta's current deals. This is in stark contrast to worries from people like Anthropic CEO Darius Amodei, who has warned about big upset, like high jobless rates, if AI grows faster than we are ready for.
