OpenAI CEO Says Meta Tried Poaching ChatGPT Engineers With $100M Bonuses

The Independent notes a remarkable-if-true figure that's being bandied around this week.

Meta "started making these, like, giant offers to a lot of people on our team," OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told his brother Jack on his podcast. "You know, like, $100 million signing bonuses, more than that [in] compensation per year... I'm really happy that, at least so far, none of our best people have decided to take him up on that."

Previous reports have also suggested that Meta is targeting employees at Google DeepMind, offering similar levels of compensation. Some of these efforts appear to have been successful, with DeepMind researcher Jack Rae joining Meta's 'Superintelligence' team earlier this month...

During the podcast, which was published on Tuesday, Mr Altman also gave details about future AI products that OpenAI is hoping to build, claiming that they will enable "crazy new social experiences" and "virtual employees". The most important breakthrough over the next decade, he said, would involve radical new discoveries powered by AI. "The thing that I think will be the most impactful in that five-to-10 year timeframe is AI will actually discover new science," he said.
The Washington Post notes that Zuckerberg "responded to recent reports of his compensation offers in an interview posted by the Information on YouTube on Tuesday, saying that 'a lot of the numbers specifically have been inaccurate" but acknowledging there is "an absolute premium for the best and most talented people." Zuckerberg's recent hires and other comments this week suggest he's not taking any chances of being left behind. He announced plans for a giant data center campus large enough to obscure Manhattan to power future AI projects by his superintelligence team.

I gotta deal yas can't refuze

[Richard Dick Head]

Thats the kinda money you offer when you don't plan on paying. Condolences in advance to the families of the developers who take that offer due to their unfortunate suicide in a month or two

Re:

[AlanObject]

If that was a signing bonus and not a performance bonus then I would have taken it.

Don't NFL superstars get those kinds of contracts these days?

Re:I gotta deal yas can't refuze

[timeOday]

Condolences in advance to the families of the developers who take that offer due to their unfortunate suicide in a month or two

This is "insightful"? Good lord. Maybe wait until there's some shadow of evidence to your conspiracy theory?

I thought you were going to say they would be offered stock options etc. that probably wouldn't actually amount to that much because AI is crap. I don't universally agree with that either, but it's not ridiculous.

What I do think is likely is that Sam Altman is exaggerating.

Re: I gotta deal yas can't refuze

[ToasterMonkey]

Thats the kinda money you offer when you don't plan on paying. Condolences in advance to the families of the developers who take that offer due to their unfortunate suicide in a month or two

If $100m in Meta stock options doesn't end up in the money these starving AI developers can probably get by on their $9k+ biweekly after tax regular compensation you daft anus weasel.

Re:

[JoeCommodore]

Whatever way a nine figure salary is likely not for just honest work.

Nice to see that kind of money in Science.

[malkavian]

For a long time now, that kind of money has been mainly bandied about in the Sports leagues. Expensive players getting huge signing bonuses to join new teams..
I always wondered what it would take to get that kind of money for the scientists; looks like there's finally something that people really want to spend their cash on.
IT may only be for a short time (after all, anologously to sport, there is likely to be a short window of opportunity for this kind of cash, so you may find it's a short career, but if

Re: Nice to see that kind of money in Science.

[Big Hairy Gorilla]

No it's not. For starters its got to be mostly options. Been there, done that. If you hit homerun, you get paid, otherwise its worth nothing.

Secondly, if money was equivalent to brains, we would have actual AI by now. Zuck has a pile of money, why doesn't he innovate it himself ?

Re:

[DamnOregonian]

Don't be stupid.
There's no situation where your Meta RSOs are worth nothing. They're not a fucking startup.

Re:

[jythie]

That isn't science money, it is MBA money. They are trying to poach executives, not research scientists.

So we are talking about the ability

[rsilvergun]

To replace trillions of dollars of white collar workers. 100 million is nothing for that.

I think one of the problems people have is that they don't understand the difference between a millionaire and a billionaire. It's easy to say well, it's about a billion dollars but the Gap is so much larger than folks realize. The difference in power and the difference in access to power having a billion dollars or more gets you is astonishing.

When it comes to AI whoever gets in on the ground floor gets to control it permanently because the Internet is going to be a one-time Bonanza of model training data that eventually gets locked down or covered in slop.

So AI is capital. It's something you own and something you draw power and wealth from. Specifically the model data is going to be the valuable thing and whoever controls that is going to be a multi-trillionaire.

None of this is good for us but hey, how about those trans girls in sports? Distracted yet? You are already fuming I bet just because I mentioned it. You've completely forgotten about everything else I wrote didn't you?

Re:

[Hall]

I think one of the problems people have is that they don't understand the difference between a millionaire and a billionaire. It's easy to say well, it's about a billion dollars but the Gap is so much larger than folks realize.

As sad as it is, it's not hard to spend a million dollars nowadays. A nice (not extravagant) house will cost you $250-300k in many areas of the US. A vacation house will be that much or more (even if it's smaller than your primary home). Treat yourself to a nice vehicle, $50-100k. Start spending $10-15k on a few vacations each year, the money can run out. My brother and I used to play a game of trying to spend a million dollars and we were kids but our numbers were pretty accurate and we had a hard time doi

Re:

[jythie]

Another possibility though is that what we are seeing is companies eating their own hype tails. Today, AI is not profitable. It is lucrative yes, but the whole industry is being fueled by outside capital and services being sold for less than they take to operate in the hopes people will find them useful enough to pay the real cost.

All of the AI companies are claiming they have found the secret recipe to profits, and might even believe each other.. so poaching someone who found a way to turn your net loss

a 100 million

[Growlley]

who do they think they are a ceo?

Re:

[jythie]

That is pretty much what they are trying for. Idea people who know how to turn an operating loss into profit, or at least keep the hype going.

$100 Million in...

[joshuark]

$100 Million in what though? Cayman islands account, double-platinum card, Libra crypto-currency, stock, bonds? In the 1980s the "big thing" was robotics especially in the auto industry. How things change but remain the same. :)

JoshK.

Re:

[CommunityMember]

$100 Million in what though? Cayman islands account, double-platinum card, Libra crypto-currency, stock, bonds?

Probably Meta stock options, that vest in 5-10 years, and that order of magnitude of pay is not way out of line with the current top talent in the field.

Re:

[joshuark]

Quite. Some "ball and chain" to keep you at Meta. But all the AI/ML hyperbole reminds of the 80s, the AI hype. Useful technology, but too much vapor-ware as in false promises.

JoshK.

Psy-ops

[SpinyNorman]

The numbers that Altman is claiming are presumably made up.

Millions or 10's of millions salary for superstars is possible, and maybe similar sign-on bonus (with some minimum stay requirement), but $100M sounds like bunk.

It's been suggested that Altman is making up these crazy numbers to pre-empt an OpenAI exodus by making anyone who is offered less money feel as if they are being low-balled.

Re:

[gweihir]

Would not be the first time that slimeball Altman is directly lying to the public.

Best people

[Maury Markowitz]

> I'm really happy that, at least so far, none of our best people

So... your worst people DID take them up on that?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fdjf4lMmiiI

Slashdot ... bringing you yesterdays news today

[BloomFilter]

At what point does something no longer classify as News? I am thinking a story analyzed on every AI YouTube channel for the last month shouldn't be taking up my feed on /.