“OpenAI’s New Weapon in Talent War With Google: $10 Million Pay Packages for Researchers”, 2023-11-10 ():
The recruiting fight between OpenAI and Google is growing fiercer.
As OpenAI proceeds with an employee share sale that would nearly triple the startup’s valuation to more than $80 billion, its recruiters are courting top artificial intelligence employees at Google with millions of dollars and a message: Join us now to lock in a stock package at the current valuation of $27 billion and benefit from the impending increase.
As part of their pitch, OpenAI recruiters have claimed researchers would have greater access to computing resources, including the specialized chips staff rely on to run experiments and develop new techniques for AI models, according to people with knowledge of the claims.
[OpenAI’s recruiters are targeting senior AI researchers at Google, offering annual compensation packages worth $5 million to $10 million, mostly in stock, The Information reported, citing insider sources. OpenAI is reportedly specifically targeting Google employees who are developing Google’s Gemini family of AI models. The startup has also given raises to some junior employees due to market conditions. Google has also recently poached some high-profile researchers from OpenAI, in part by offering higher salaries. OpenAI and Google are locked in a fierce battle for talent, with both companies claiming to have more computing resources than the other. OpenAI CO Sam Altman said internally that Google will have a computing advantage until sometime next year when Microsoft makes more AI chips available, according to The Information.]