Meta Offers Up to $100 Million Signing Bonus to Recruit OpenAI Engineers

Recently, Meta offered signing bonuses worth up to $100 million to attract OpenAI engineers, according to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

A signing bonus is a special monetary reward given when joining a new company; in simple terms, it's like saying, 'Come work with us, and we'll pay you this amount.'

Altman mentioned on a podcast hosted by his brother that Meta made huge offers to several members of the OpenAI team, including some bonuses reaching nine-figure sums (i.e., $100 million).

Nevertheless, key talents at OpenAI have so far declined these offers.

Meta's aggressive talent acquisition strategy is part of a larger plan to enhance AI capabilities. They recently hired the CEO of Scale AI and invested $14.3 billion into the startup, expanding their "Superintelligence" division.

Altman added that Meta sees OpenAI as its biggest rival in the AI development race.

The term "Superintelligence" refers to the goal of creating AI technology that is far smarter and more powerful than people imagine, and if realized, it is expected to have a massive impact across industries.

While the response of the stock market or the public hasn't been specifically mentioned, this talent war clearly highlights how fierce competition in the AI industry has become.