Zuckerberg’s $100 Million Gambit to Poach ChatGPT Talent Fails, Says OpenAI CEO Sam Altman
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has reportedly attempted to recruit top talent from OpenAI with eye-watering offers—some worth up to $100 million—according to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
Speaking candidly on the Uncapped podcast, hosted by his brother Jack Altman, the tech executive revealed that Meta’s aggressive poaching tactics have so far been unsuccessful, despite offering compensation packages that rival the biggest deals in sports and entertainment.
“[Meta] started making these giant offers to a lot of people on our team,” Altman said. “You know, like $100 million signing bonuses, more than that [in] compensation per year… It is crazy. I’m really happy that, at least so far, none of our best people have decided to take him up on that.”
To put those figures in perspective, that’s roughly five times the $20 million annual deal offered to soccer superstar Lionel Messi to join Inter Miami in Major League Soccer.
Meta has yet to comment on the claims, but the tech giant has been open about its ambitions to lead in artificial intelligence. Recent reports suggest similar recruitment drives are also targeting employees at Google DeepMind, with some success. Notably, DeepMind researcher Jack Rae recently joined Meta’s new “Superintelligence” team.
That team is expected to be led by Alexander Wang, CEO of Scale AI, following Meta’s $14.3 billion investment in the startup—a clear signal of Zuckerberg’s determination to catch up in the AI arms race.
Altman, however, believes OpenAI’s edge lies in its mission, not just money. “People stay because they believe in what we’re doing,” he said, referring to OpenAI’s focus on building artificial general intelligence (AGI) that exceeds human capabilities.
Looking ahead, Altman teased transformative new AI products on the horizon—what he called “crazy new social experiences” and even “virtual employees.”
But the most profound impact of AI, he said, will come in the form of scientific breakthroughs. “The thing that I think will be the most impactful in that five-to-ten-year timeframe is AI will actually discover new science,” he claimed. “This is a crazy claim to make, but I think it is true. And if it is correct, then over time, that will dwarf everything else.”
As Big Tech battles for the brightest minds in AI, Altman is betting that mission-driven innovation will beat out mega paychecks. So far, it seems, he’s winning.
