OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has revealed that tech giant Meta is aggressively trying to poach members of his team, offering signing bonuses reportedly as high as $100 million in a fierce bid for top artificial intelligence talent.
Speaking on a podcast hosted by his brother, Jack Altman, the OpenAI chief said that despite Meta’s “eye-watering” incentives, none of his top staff have accepted the offers — at least so far. He noted that Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, is offering even larger total compensation packages, although he did not detail whether these were in the form of salaries, stock options, or other incentives.
Altman acknowledged Meta’s competitiveness but questioned its track record on innovation. “There’s many things I respect about Meta as a company, but I don’t think they’re a company that’s, like, great at innovation,” he said.
Meta has significantly increased its AI investments in recent months, including a reported $14 billion deal to acquire a 49% stake in Scale AI, a major data-labeling startup. The company’s intensified recruitment efforts reflect the escalating battle for elite AI talent, viewed as essential to leading the next phase of technological advancement.
Despite the competition, Altman expressed confidence in OpenAI’s ability to retain its top talent. “Our people stay because of the really special culture and the mission — creating superintelligence and the economic rewards and everything else flowing from that,” he said.
Industry analysts say the bidding war underscores the high stakes of the AI race. Indranil Bandyopadhyay, principal analyst at Forrester, described the situation as a “high-risk, high-reward gamble,” with elite talent now seen as the most valuable asset in the sector. “Whether this intense level of investment is sustainable remains to be seen, but for now, the AI gold rush continues at a breakneck pace,” he said.
Earlier this year, OpenAI joined other backers in announcing a $500 billion commitment to building advanced data centers in the United States, aimed at supporting the development of future AI models.
Meta has yet to issue a public response to Altman’s comments.
