Sam Altman Says Meta Made ‘Crazy,’ ‘Giant’ Offers To Poach OpenAI Engineers — Shrugs Off Zuckerberg’s AI Threat

As the stakes in the artificial intelligence (AI) game get bigger, mega-cap techs with deep pockets are vying with each other to stay ahead. 

OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman disclosed in a podcast aired on Tuesday that social-media giant Meta Platforms unsuccessfully tried to poach its AI engineers by offering them huge bonuses.

Altman’s disclosure came as he discussed Meta's AI pursuits, including its recent investment in Scale AI. The tech entrepreneur said Meta thinks of OpenAI as its biggest competitor. 

“Their current AI efforts have not worked as well as they've hoped, and I respect being aggressive and continuing to try new things,” Altman said in the “Uncapped with Jack Altman” podcast hosted by his brother.

The OpenAI CEO also recalled Mark Zuckerberg's comments about Alphabet, Inc.’s (GOOGL) (GOOG) Google trying social media in the early days of Facebook, but the Meta chief believed that it wouldn’t work. 

“I feel a little bit similar here,” Altman said. He added that Meta started making “giant offers” like $100 million signing bonuses and more in yearly compensation.

Altman said, “It’s crazy,” adding, "I'm really happy that at least so far none of our best people have decided to take them up.”

According to the OpenAI chief, the loyalty toward OpenAI may have been due to the belief that the startup got a “really good shot,” or a much better shot at delivering super intelligence, eventually making the company more valuable. 

He also said offering huge upfront guaranteed compensation tells prospective employees that a company is focusing on that, not the work and the mission.

“I don’t think it’s going to set up a great culture,” Altman said.

He also said Meta wasn’t great at innovation.

Altman’s comments come shortly after a media report that Zuckerberg has prioritized assembling a “superintelligence” team and recruiting AI personnel. 

Meta has also announced a $14.3 billion investment in Scale AI to acquire a minority stake in the startup and hired Alexander Wang, the latter’s CEO. 

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