FRANCISCO, July 5 （WSH) — A fierce battle for AI talent has erupted in Silicon Valley as Meta reportedly offers staggering compensation packages of up to $300 million over four years to lure top researchers from rival firms, including OpenAI. The aggressive poaching effort has pushed the competition for elite artificial intelligence experts into overdrive.
Sources say at least eight OpenAI researchers have recently been approached by Meta with ultra-lucrative offers, prompting OpenAI to pause operations for a week to stabilize internal morale. These high-stakes maneuvers underline the scarcity and skyrocketing value of top AI scientists.
According to Wired and Forbes, the top echelon of AI researchers — globally estimated to number fewer than 1,000 — are commanding unprecedented salaries. Meta’s AI engineers now earn anywhere from $186,000 to $3.2 million annually, exceeding even OpenAI’s compensation range of $212,000 to $2.5 million.
Meta’s Chief Technology Officer Andrew Bosworth denied that most researchers are being offered $100 million signing bonuses, as alleged by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. However, he admitted that the market for top AI talent is “very hot,” and that only a small number of executive-level leaders are offered such packages.
Meanwhile, industry experts, including HR veteran Dr. Tom Zhang, caution that while only a few receive these extreme payouts, such offers have amplified a perception of a booming — and potentially unsustainable — wage bubble. Zhang noted that some senior AI scientists now earn over $10 million annually, outpacing compensation in traditional high-paying industries like Wall Street, where top analysts typically earn around $180,000.
Adding to the intensity of the competition, tech giants like Meta and Nvidia have also been acquiring startups primarily to onboard their AI founders and elite teams. Recent high-profile hires include Chinese-origin researchers Banghua Zhu and Jiantao Jiao, now with Nvidia.
As the battle heats up, the presence of Chinese-origin scientists continues to stand out, with reports suggesting that Chinese researchers make up roughly 50% of the world’s top AI talent. With demand still far outstripping supply, analysts project that this AI talent crunch will persist through at least 2027.
