Jun 18, 2025 12:07 PM IST
Sam Altman openly acknowledged that Meta sees OpenAI as a competitor. He even added that there are several things he respects about Meta.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has publicly taken a swipe at Meta for trying to buy its way into the AI talent pool—and failing. Speaking on the Uncapped podcast, hosted by his brother Jack Altman, the OpenAI chief revealed that Meta had offered staggering sign-on bonuses—some reportedly as high as $100 million—to lure away key engineers from his company.
The outcome? None of them left.
“We offer a different package,” Altman said. “It’s about the mission and the ability to do important work.”
Altman made it clear: Meta’s big-money approach might make headlines, but it doesn’t build lasting culture—or loyalty. And for a field as consequential as artificial intelligence, culture matters.
Meta’s big salary strategy
Meta has been ramping up its AI ambitions aggressively. The company recently set up a new “superintelligence” team led by Alexandr Wang, former CEO of Scale AI, and invested over $14 billion in Scale itself. According to reports, Meta has also approached researchers from OpenAI and Google DeepMind with outsized compensation offers in its effort to build cutting-edge AI products.
But Altman sees that as a flawed approach.
“The strategy of a ton of upfront guaranteed comp, and that being the reason you tell someone to join—I don’t think that’s going to set up a great culture,” he said.
He didn’t question Meta’s technical capabilities outright, but made a broader point: money alone won’t win the AI race.
Altman openly acknowledged that Meta sees OpenAI as a competitor. He even added that there are several things he respects about Meta. But he didn’t hold back on the real criticism: “I don’t think they’re a company that’s great at innovation.”
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While Meta is spending heavily to catch up, OpenAI is trying to retain top talent through ‘purpose-driven work’ and a long-term view of what AI can do.
