OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has accused Meta of using massive signing bonuses—reportedly reaching $100 million—in an aggressive campaign to lure top artificial intelligence experts from OpenAI and other leading labs. Altman made the remarks during an episode of Uncapped, a podcast hosted by his brother, where he criticized the social media giant’s strategy as misguided and excessively money-driven.

“They’ve tried to hire a lot of people at OpenAI,” Altman said. “So far, none of our best people have decided to take them up on that.” He described the figures being offered by Meta as “crazy,” emphasizing that OpenAI’s top talent has stayed put, despite being courted with enormous financial incentives.

Meta’s Bold AI Ambitions

Altman’s comments come as Meta, led by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is ramping up its investments in artificial intelligence at a blistering pace. Zuckerberg has taken a hands-on role in assembling a “superintelligence” team, personally reaching out to some of the industry’s most accomplished AI minds.

In a major strategic move, Meta invested $14.3 billion in Scale AI, securing a 49% stake in the data-labeling startup and bringing its 28-year-old CEO, Alexandr Wang, into the fold. Wang, who co-founded Scale after dropping out of MIT, is now expected to lead Meta’s new superintelligence division—a high-stakes effort aimed at building next-generation AI systems to rival those of OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and China’s DeepSeek.

A Battle for AI Supremacy

Meta’s pursuit of top-tier AI researchers has already yielded results. The company recently poached Jack Rae, a principal researcher at Google DeepMind, further signaling its determination to close the innovation gap between itself and other frontier AI labs.

Bloomberg reported that Meta is actively trying to build a world-class team to challenge the dominance of OpenAI and Google in foundational AI research. With more than $30 billion committed to AI and metaverse development over recent years, the company’s strategic direction has never been clearer.

However, Altman suggested that throwing money at the problem may not produce long-term results.

“I respect being aggressive and continuing to try new things,” he said, “but I don’t think they’re a company that’s great at innovation.”

Altman argued that OpenAI’s internal culture, driven by a sense of mission and deep technical ambition, plays a more critical role in attracting and retaining top talent than flashy paychecks.

“I think we understand a lot of things they don’t,” he added, making a thinly veiled jab at Meta’s perceived lack of creativity and originality in AI development.

Culture vs. Compensation

The clash between Meta and OpenAI goes beyond mere dollars and cents. Altman suggested that OpenAI’s staff—many of whom work on powerful models like GPT-4 and beyond—remain motivated by purpose, not just pay. He implied that Meta’s approach risks eroding the kind of focused, high-impact research culture that is essential to pushing the boundaries of artificial general intelligence.

“Chasing money too hard leads you away from the work that matters,” Altman said, underscoring his belief that innovation cannot be bought.

Meta, for its part, has not responded to requests for comment about Altman’s statements or its recruitment tactics as of the time of this report.

The Scale AI Factor

Meta’s aggressive courtship of Alexandr Wang highlights how important leadership is in the race to dominate AI. Wang, who hails from a scientific family and has been dubbed a Silicon Valley wunderkind, rapidly rose to prominence for building Scale AI, a company that provides labeled data crucial for training large language models and computer vision systems.

The $14.3 billion investment in Scale valued the startup at $29 billion, a massive leap for a company that just a few years ago was a niche player in data infrastructure. But sources close to the deal told Reuters that Meta’s main motivation wasn’t Scale’s product—it was Wang himself.

By installing Wang at the helm of its new AI team, Meta is hoping to replicate the kind of breakthrough model development OpenAI has achieved with GPT series and ChatGPT.

Meta’s Changing Role in AI

Once seen as a leader in open-source AI, Meta has struggled with staff departures and delays in launching competitive models, creating space for rivals to surge ahead. As Google’s DeepMind continues to innovate with its Gemini models and OpenAI expands its ecosystem, Meta is repositioning itself through acquisitions and targeted investments to reclaim relevance in the AI arms race.

Still, many in the industry question whether the combination of big checks and corporate muscle can deliver the kind of agile, inventive breakthroughs now needed to shape the future of artificial intelligence.

A Defining Moment in the AI Talent War

As the global AI race heats up, companies are battling not only for algorithms and computing power—but for the minds behind them. With $100 million compensation packages on the table, loyalty is being tested like never before.

Yet, according to Sam Altman, the soul of AI innovation lies elsewhere:

“You can’t buy great culture. You build it.”

Whether Meta’s strategy will pay off remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: the competition for AI dominance is no longer just about building models—it’s about who can attract, inspire, and retain the talent capable of shaping the future.