OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has sharply criticized Meta for aggressively poaching AI talent from OpenAI, describing Meta’s recruitment tactics as “distasteful” and warning that they could lead to “very deep cultural problems” within the AI research community. In a leaked internal memo shared with OpenAI researchers, Altman framed the situation as a clash between “missionaries” (OpenAI’s purpose-driven researchers) and “mercenaries” (those drawn by Meta’s lucrative offers), emphasizing that OpenAI’s commitment to developing artificial general intelligence (AGI) with a strong mission focus will ultimately prevail over Meta’s approach.
Meta recently announced the creation of a new superintelligence team, Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL), led by Alexandr Wang (ex-Scale AI) and Nat Friedman (ex-GitHub), and has recruited several senior AI researchers from OpenAI and other leading AI organizations. Despite offering extremely high compensation packages—bonuses up to $100 million and total pay reaching $300 million over four years—Altman noted that Meta has not succeeded in attracting OpenAI’s top scientists, having to reach far down their candidate list.
OpenAI’s chief research officer Mark Chen described the talent departures as feeling like “someone has broken into our home and taken something,” underscoring the emotional impact on OpenAI’s team. Altman, however, reassured staff by highlighting OpenAI’s unique culture and mission-driven focus as key advantages, and hinted at a review of compensation to retain talent.
Meta’s leadership responded by downplaying Altman’s criticism, with Meta executives asserting that they are successfully recruiting talent from OpenAI and continuing to push aggressively in the AI race. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg confirmed the company’s strong ambitions in AGI development through the new MSL team, signaling an intensifying competition between the two tech giants in artificial intelligence research.
The dispute centers on Meta’s aggressive hiring strategy, which Altman believes threatens the cultural integrity and mission focus of AI research at OpenAI, while Meta aims to accelerate its position in the AI field by assembling a top-tier team through high financial incentives.