Altman Says Meta Making $100m+ Offers to OpenAI Team

Sam Altman, the head of OpenAI, has revealed that some of his staff members have received “giant offers” from Meta, including “signing bonuses” worth $100 million (£74.3 million).

Meta, which operates platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, has been pushing hard to expand its artificial intelligence ventures, recently investing $14 billion (£10.4 billion) to acquire nearly half of the startup Scale AI.

Despite these enticing proposals, Mr Altman said “at least so far” none of his “best people” had taken the offers and left.

During a conversation on his brother Jack’s podcast, Sam Altman acknowledged Meta’s aggressive moves in the AI space, as they try to compete with OpenAI—the creator of the popular ChatGPT.

He mentioned that beyond the “signing bonuses,” additional yearly “compensation” was being offered, although he didn’t clarify if this was strictly salary or included shares and other perks.

Still, Mr Altman believes his staff remains loyal because of OpenAI’s “mission” to build superintelligence and the “economic awards and everything else flowing from that.”

Several AI companies, including OpenAI, predict that artificial general intelligence (AGI)—machines performing as well as or better than humans—could arrive soon.

Superintelligence would go even further, surpassing human cognitive abilities by a large margin.

Tech giants are pouring vast sums of money into this race.

Earlier this year, OpenAI confirmed a partnership with other investors to commit $500 billion for the creation of new AI data centers in the US.

Mr Altman expressed confidence that OpenAI has “a much better shot at actually delivering on superintelligence, and also may eventually be the more valuable company.”

He also praised the unique work atmosphere at OpenAI, suggesting that this plays a big role in attracting and keeping skilled engineers who value 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 told his brother.

Although he described Meta’s ambition for superintelligence as “rational,” he likened it to Google’s unsuccessful attempt to rival Facebook in social media.

Sam Altman’s statements add to the ongoing trend of top tech leaders commenting openly on their competitors, often through podcast appearances.

For example, during a podcast in January, Mark Zuckerberg described Apple’s iPhone as “obviously one of the most important inventions probably of all time.”

But he also remarked that Apple lately “been so off their game in terms of not really releasing many innovative things.”

Such remarks, however, seem mild compared to his rocky exchanges with Elon Musk, where both have hinted at settling disputes in a physical fight.

Musk is also currently locked in a lawsuit against Sam Altman regarding OpenAI’s origins.