Are ChatGPT developers leaving?

According to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, members of his team have been receiving “massive offers” from rival tech giant Meta — including salary packages worth up to $100 million.

Meta — the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp — is ramping up its artificial intelligence (AI) efforts. The company recently spent $14 billion to acquire a 49% stake in AI startup Scale AI.

However, Altman stated that “at least so far,” none of his “top people” have left despite these offers.

In the tech world, talent has become a key resource.

Indranil Bandyopadhyay, principal analyst at Forrester, said these figures reflect the belief that “a small group of elite researchers and engineers can provide a significant competitive advantage.”

With investment in AI reaching unprecedented levels, talent recruitment has become a “high-risk, high-reward gamble,” he told the BBC.

“Whether this level of investment is sustainable remains unclear, but for now, the AI gold rush is in full swing — with talent being the most valuable and hotly contested resource.”

Culture vs. compensation

Speaking on his brother Jack Altman's podcast, Sam Altman said he respected Meta’s aggressive competition with OpenAI, the maker of the globally renowned AI product ChatGPT.

He noted that Meta is offering not only signing bonuses but also large annual compensation packages, though he did not clarify if these were in salaries, stock options, or other incentives.

Still, Altman believes people are staying at OpenAI due to its “very special culture” and its mission — creating superintelligence and benefiting economically from it.

OpenAI and similar firms believe artificial general intelligence (AGI) is close — meaning AI systems could soon match or surpass human performance.

Superintelligence is the next step, where AI vastly outperforms human cognitive abilities.

“There’s a lot I respect about Meta,” Altman said, “but I don’t think they’re a leader in innovation.”

AI arms race: big tech and big money

Major tech firms are pouring money into AI R&D. For example, in January, OpenAI announced a $500 billion plan with other investors to build new data centers in the US.

Edward Keelan, a partner at UK-based venture fund Octopus Ventures, said the scale of these investments shows a belief that we’re entering a transformative era that could reshape nearly every industry.

“The very top talent can define the future of AI models and infrastructure — and are getting extraordinary offers as a result,” he added.

Tech bros and their rivalries

Altman’s comments are part of a growing trend of tech leaders critiquing each other — often through podcasts.

In January, Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg praised the iPhone on Joe Rogan’s podcast as “perhaps one of the most important inventions ever,” but also criticized Apple for a recent lack of innovation.

That critique is mild compared to his tense relationship with fellow tech mogul Elon Musk — the two even talked about fighting in a cage match.

Currently, Musk is engaged in a legal battle with Altman over OpenAI’s origins. Read 'Zamin' on Telegram!