OpenAI Raises Salaries to Compete with Meta’s Hiring Strategies

After Meta’s successful hiring of several senior researchers, an OpenAI executive recently assured employees on Saturday that the leadership team is not just “passively watching.”

“I’m overwhelmed with emotion, feeling as though our industry has been compromised and something precious has been lost,” expressed Chief Research Officer Mark Chen in a Slack message obtained by Wired.

Given the significant influx of hires at Meta, Chen highlighted that he, along with CEO Sam Altman and other OpenAI leaders, has been proactively connecting with individuals exploring new job opportunities. He underscored their intensified efforts to reevaluate compensation and find creative ways to recognize and reward outstanding talent.

Recently, various news sources reported that eight researchers have transitioned from OpenAI to Meta. Altman even shared his apprehensions during a podcast about Meta supposedly extending “$100 million signing bonuses,” a claim that has reportedly faced internal disputes among Meta executives.