Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) reportedly offered $100 million compensation packages to lure top OpenAI talent but CEO Sam Altman says the company's best people are staying put because they believe more in achieving AGI.
What Happened: Speaking on a podcast with his brother, Jack Altman, which was released on Tuesday, Altman confirmed recent reports that Meta tried to recruit researchers from his company and Alphabet Inc.'s (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google DeepMind as part of its AI talent push.
The offers, Altman said, included nine-figure compensation deals.
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"They [Meta] started making these giant offers to a lot of people on our team," Altman said. "Like $100 million signing bonuses, more than that [compensation] per year."
"I'm really happy that, at least so far, none of our best people have decided to take them up on that," the OpenAI CEO added.
He went on to say that OpenAI staffers believe the company has a better shot at achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI) and that Meta's approach--focusing on compensation over mission--won't foster the kind of innovation necessary for success.
"We’re set up such that if we succeed at that and a lot of people on our research team believe we will or we have a good chance at it, then everybody will do great financially," Altman said.
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Why It's Important: Despite offering million-dollar salaries, Meta is reportedly facing a talent exodus from its AI division, with employees increasingly moving to rivals like OpenAI and Anthropic.
According to the 2025 SignalFire State of Talent Report, the demand for AI talent is surging, and companies are struggling to retain skilled workers. Anthropic stands out with an industry-leading 80% retention rate, DeepMind retains 78% of its staff, while OpenAI and Meta lag behind at 67% and 64%, respectively.
Last week, it was announced that Meta has made a strategic minority investment in Scale AI, valuing the company at over $29 billion. As part of the partnership, Scale AI’s founder Alexandr Wang will join Meta to support its AI efforts while remaining on Scale's board.
Price Action: Meta shares have gained 16.35% so far this year. On Tuesday, the stock declined 0.70% during regular trading and slipped an additional 0.38% after hours, according to Benzinga Pro.
Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings indicate a continued upward trend for META across short, medium and long-term periods. Further performance details can be found here.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
