Meta Platforms tried to poach OpenAI employees by offering signing bonuses as high as $100 million, with even larger annual compensation packages, OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman said.
While Meta had sought to hire “a lot of people” from OpenAI, “so far none of our best people have decided to take them up on that,” Altman said, speaking on the “Uncapped” podcast, which is hosted by his brother.
“I’ve heard that Meta thinks of us as their biggest competitor,” he said. “Their current AI efforts have not worked as well as they have hoped and I respect being aggressive and continuing to try new things.”
The Meta CEO is personally trying to assemble a top artificial intelligence team for its “superintelligence” AI lab and has invested heavily in AI through its Meta AI research division, which also oversees its Llama series of open-source large language models.
The moves come after Meta had once again delayed the release of its latest flagship AI model due to concerns about its capabilities, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.
Zuckerberg has become so frustrated with Meta’s standing in AI that he’s willing to invest billions in top talent.
Last week Alexandr Wang, founder of Scale AI, announced he was leaving for Meta as part of a deal that saw the Facebook parent dish out $14.3 billion for a 49% stake in the AI startup. Wang added that a small number of Scale AI employees would also join Meta as part of the agreement. CNBC