Zuckerberg’s Meta Offered $100M to Poach OpenAI Talent

Mark Zuckerberg really wants Meta to win the AI race—so much that his company reportedly offered $100 million signing bonuses to some top OpenAI employees. That’s according to Sam Altman, OpenAI’s CEO, who revealed it during a podcast hosted by his brother Jack.

“They started making giant offers to a lot of people on our team,” Altman said. “You know, like $100 million signing bonuses.” Still, he added, “None of our best people have decided to take them up on that.”

Apparently, Zuckerberg is personally recruiting a team to build AI that’s smarter than humans. He’s even been hosting experts at his homes and reorganizing Meta’s offices to put the AI team closer to his desk.

Just last week, Meta dropped $14.3 billion to buy nearly half of Scale AI—another big name in the space. The company’s CEO and some employees are also joining Meta.

Altman wasn’t shy about calling out the competition either. “I don’t think they’re a company that’s great at innovation,” he said, though he added he respects Meta’s push to keep trying.

The rivalry is heating up, and so is the money behind it. Meta wants to move fast, but for now, OpenAI says its top talent isn’t going anywhere.