Can money buy everything? When it comes to hiring top AI talent, it apparently can’t! Meta’s ambitious push to dominate the artificial intelligence landscape, spearheaded by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is encountering unexpected resistance, even after considering high pay packages. Despite offering industry-leading compensation packages, Meta isn’t able to woo top AI researchers from rival firms.
One of the most shocking cases involves ex-OpenAI’s Mira Murati and her team at Thinking Machines Lab. Recent reports indicate that Meta aggressively pursued talent from Thinking Machines Lab and Anthropic, extending salary offers that surpass industry norms. After Zuckerberg failed to woo Mira Murati to sell her AI startup, Meta scaled up its efforts by reaching out to her team.
Meta fails to secure Mira Murati and her startup
One researcher at Thinking Machines Lab was reportedly offered a staggering $1 billion over multiple years, with other offers ranging from $200 million to $500 million. However, sources close to Thinking Machines Lab suggest that none of these lucrative offers were accepted, thus highlighting a growing trend among AI firms that mission and company culture are prioritised over financial incentives.
Mira Murati, formerly the CTO and interim CEO of OpenAI, played a crucial role in the development of products like ChatGPT, DALL-E, and Sora before her resignation to establish Thinking Machines Lab. Her new venture recently secured $2 billion in capital, indicating its strong position in the AI landscape, which could potentially contribute to its researchers’ decision to remain with the startup despite Meta’s lucrative job offers.
Meta struggles with Anthropic researchers too
Similarly, Anthropic’s co-founder and CEO, Dario Amodei, revealed that his mission-driven team has largely resisted Meta’s lucrative offers, some reportedly as high as $100 million in signing bonuses. Amodei said that his employees are more committed to Anthropic’s long-term vision of shaping the future of humanity by creating responsible AI. Their team isn’t interested in immediate financial gains.
For the most part, Meta’s hiring spree has borne fruit by paying exceptionally high salary packages. The company has successfully onboarded some key AI figures, including Shengjia Zhao, who was co-creator of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, and Alexandr Wang of Scale AI. Industry observers suggest that while Meta’s financial might is undeniable, the ability to inspire and align with researchers’ long-term goals is proving to be an equally, if not more, critical factor in securing top-tier AI talent.
