OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has gone public with a striking accusation: Meta is offering astronomical compensation—signing bonuses as high as $100 million—in an attempt to lure away his team members. In the high-stakes world of artificial intelligence, aggressive recruitment isn’t unusual, but Altman’s decision to speak openly about it is.
Speaking on the Uncapped Podcast, hosted by his brother Jack Altman, the OpenAI chief said:
“They [Meta] started making giant offers to a lot of people on our team. You know, like $100 million signing bonuses, more than that [in] compensation per year.”
Altman claimed that, so far, none of OpenAI’s top talent has accepted these offers. Meta has not issued a public response to the remarks.
While talent poaching is a long-standing part of the tech industry, Altman’s move to publicly address it breaks from Silicon Valley tradition, where such battles are typically kept behind closed doors. Transitions between tech giants are usually only noticed when a LinkedIn update appears weeks later—not when a CEO airs the details on a podcast.
Altman didn’t stop at the numbers. He suggested that Meta views OpenAI as its biggest rival:
“I have heard that Meta thinks of us as their biggest competitor,” he said—part warning, part flex.
His comments come shortly after Meta made a major move of its own in the AI space: a $14.3 billion investment in Scale AI, a key player in data labeling essential for model training. As part of that deal, Scale AI’s founder and CEO Alexandr Wang joined Meta to lead its new superintelligence division—an ambitious unit tasked with building the next wave of general-purpose AI systems.
Despite its heavy investment, Meta has faced challenges. Reports indicate delays in launching key AI models and a string of departures from its AI team, just as rivals like OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and China’s DeepSeek push ahead.
Altman’s decision to spotlight Meta’s recruitment tactics could be more than just venting. It may be a strategic signal: reinforcing confidence in OpenAI’s internal culture while publicly questioning Meta’s approach. After all, revealing that none of the “best people” have left—despite nine-figure offers—is a subtle but powerful statement in itself.
The gloves are clearly off in Silicon Valley’s AI race—and Altman just made sure the world knows it.
