Mark Zuckerberg is leading an aggressive recruitment push for AI talent—particularly targeting researchers from OpenAI—for Meta’s newly formed Meta Superintelligence Labs. According to Wired, Meta has reportedly extended at least 10 offers that could reach $300 million over four years, with over $100 million payable in the first year due to heavily vested equity.
💸 Salary & Equity Scale
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Offers typically include immediate stock vesting, boosting first-year compensation beyond $100 million.
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Even mid‑level engineers at Meta earn $850 k/year, with senior engineers (E7) averaging around $1.54 M annually.
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Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth clarified that these enormous offers are reserved for a few leadership roles, not standard sign-on bonuses.
🏢 Formation of Meta Superintelligence Labs
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Announced internally by Zuckerberg, this unit is co‑led by Alexandr Wang (former Scale AI CEO) and Nat Friedman (ex‑GitHub CEO) .
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The lab’s mission: pursue superintelligent AGI, with full backing and ample GPU and infrastructure commitment .
🎯 OpenAI’s Response
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OpenAI leadership responded strongly:
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Mark Chen, OpenAI’s Chief Research Officer, likened it to “someone has broken into our home and stolen something.Sam Altman accused Meta of dangling “$100 million signing bonuses,” prompting internal efforts to adjust OpenAI’s compensation.
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Meta disputes the full scope of the figures, stating the numbers have been “misrepresented”.
🌐 The AI Talent War
This all-out effort highlights an escalating talent arms race in the AI industry:
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At least 7–11 elite researchers have already moved from OpenAI (and others like Anthropic and DeepMind) to Meta . Meta’s $14 B investment in Scale AI and partnership with it underscores the strategic importance of data, infrastructure, and hiring for superintelligence.
🧩 What’s Next?
| Threat | Effect |
|---|---|
| Meta | Aims to leap ahead in AGI with deep pockets and top-tier talent. |
| OpenAI | Confronted with pay pressure, may need to sweeten compensation or emphasize mission and culture. |
| Overall AI Race | Escalating salaries (now in nine-figure deals) could reshape how companies recruit and retain researchers. |
This story captures a pivotal moment where money, ambition, and computing resources converge in the race for next-gen AI, with far-reaching implications for innovation, ethics, and corporate AI strategies.