Meta Platforms (META) is reportedly poaching staff from OpenAI with lucrative signing bonuses that have totaled as much as $100 million U.S.
Meta Platforms is also offering big annual compensation packages to convince OpenAI staff to jump ship and change employers.
News of the poaching comes after privately held OpenAI Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sam Altman complained about Meta Platforms during a recent interview.
While Meta has tried to hire “a lot of people” from OpenAI, “so far none of our best people have decided to take them up on that,” said Altman on a podcast.
“I’ve heard that Meta thinks of us as their biggest competitor,” added Altman. “Their current A.I. efforts have not worked as well as they have hoped…”
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said that his company is all in on artificial intelligence (A.I.) and that he wants a top team as the company establishes its “superintelligence” A.I. laboratory.
Recently, Alexandr Wang, founder of Scale AI, announced he is leaving for Meta Platforms after the technology giant invested $14.3 billion U.S. for a 49% stake in the A.I. start-up company.
However, Meta recently delayed the release of its latest flagship A.I. model due to concerns about its capabilities, according to media reports.
Still, Meta remains undeterred in its efforts to get ahead in A.I., announcing that it plans to spend up to $72 billion U.S. on the technology this year alone.
META stock has risen 16% this year to trade at $697.23 U.S. per share.
