Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, claims that Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta is attempting to woo senior OpenAI employees with signing bonuses as high as $100 million, alongside even heftier annual compensation packages. This move aims to attract top AI talent from the ChatGPT developer.

Reports indicate that the competition for elite AI professionals is intensifying, with Meta actively seeking to recruit senior staff from OpenAI through substantial financial incentives.

Altman revealed on the Uncapped podcast that Meta has reached out to many individuals at his company but noted, “So far, none of our best people have decided to take them up on that.”

Altman acknowledged that Meta sees OpenAI as its primary rival, admitting that the company’s current AI initiatives have not met expectations. “I’ve heard that Meta thinks of us as their biggest competitor,” he said.

“Their current AI efforts haven’t worked as well as they had hoped, and I respect their aggressive approach to trying new things.”

Meta’s recruitment strategy comes at a time when reports suggest delays in the release of its latest AI model due to concerns over its performance.

Sources have indicated that Zuckerberg is prepared to invest billions in securing top talent to enhance Meta’s position in the AI landscape.

Recently, Alexandr Wang, founder of Scale AI, announced he would be joining Meta following a $14.3 billion deal that granted the parent company a 49 percent stake in the AI startup.

A select number of Scale AI employees will also transition to Meta, with Wang expected to lead a research lab focused on developing AI systems that exceed human intelligence.

In addition, Meta has successfully recruited other prominent figures, including Jack Rae from Google’s DeepMind, with Zuckerberg reportedly playing a direct role in these efforts.

Altman criticized Meta’s approach of offering large, guaranteed compensation, arguing it detracts from meaningful work and undermines a culture of innovation. “There are many who think, ‘We’re just going to try to copy OpenAI,’”he stated.

“That rarely works. You end up trailing your competitor without fostering a culture of learning and innovation.”

However, some tech analysts defend Meta’s AI strategy. Daniel Newman, CEO of Futurum Group, told CNBC’s Power Lunch that Meta has essentially laid the groundwork for open-source AI development, asserting that much of the current progress in AI is built upon Meta’s contributions.

He emphasized that Meta’s significant investments, such as in ScaleAI, will propel its advancements in training large AI models.