“They (Meta) started making giant offers to a lot of people on our team… like $100 million signing bonuses,” Sam Altman said on the Uncapped podcast.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has alleged that Meta is aggressively trying to lure his team members with eye-watering bonuses of up to $100 million, underscoring intensifying competition in the artificial intelligence sector.
Altman made the claim on the Uncapped podcast, hosted by his brother, saying: “They (Meta) started making giant offers to a lot of people on our team… like $100 million signing bonuses, more than that in compensation per year.”
He added, “At least, so far, none of our best people have decided to take them up on that.”
Reuters could not independently verify Altman’s claims. Meta did not respond to requests for comment outside regular business hours.
Altman’s remarks follow Meta’s recent $14.3 billion investment in data-labeling startup Scale AI and the hiring of its CEO, Alexandr Wang, to lead its new superintelligence division.
“I’ve heard that Meta thinks of us as their biggest competitor,” Altman said, as the battle for elite AI talent continues to intensify.