Despite the market slowdown, OpenAI continues with aggressive hiring by strategically leveraging the growing interest in AI technology.
OpenAI is said to be presenting substantial compensation packages, reaching as high as $10 million, to entice top researchers away from Google, as per a report from The Information. This marks OpenAI’s ongoing efforts to recruit talent from Google’s ranks, with a focus on senior researchers in Google’s AI teams.
The proposed annual compensation, largely in the form of stock, is reportedly in the range of $5 million to $10 million. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has reportedly reached out to key Google AI researchers personally to encourage them to consider joining OpenAI.
As reported by The Wall Street Journal, OpenAI is contemplating the sale of shares held by existing employees, with an estimated company valuation ranging between an impressive $80 billion to $90 billion. Employees joining OpenAI before the share sales are likely to benefit, as the valuation is likely to triple, potentially resulting in a 300% increase in the value of their shares. Additionally, these employees may receive substantial stock grants in the future.
To strengthen its team, OpenAI has published a job opening for a research engineer position within its superalignment team, featuring an annual salary spanning from $245,000 to $450,000. The listing highlights “generous equity” and includes additional benefits as integral components of the overall compensation package.
OpenAI’s primary revenue streams include $20-per-month subscriptions to ChatGPT Plus and licensing its AI models to developers and businesses. With approximately half of OpenAI owned by Microsoft, the tech giant has also made significant investments. The San Francisco-based company holds leverage with substantial cloud computing resources essential for training and testing its AI models.
Recruitments Heavy in the AI Space
Despite the ongoing trend of workforce reductions across the broader tech sector in 2023, substantial investments are pouring into companies focused on AI model development. A case in point is Anthropic, a San Francisco-based AI startup, which recently secured significant funding from Amazon and Google, both of which experienced significant workforce layoffs over the past year.
OpenAI is strategically leveraging the growing interest in AI technology to position itself among the industry’s major players. In late October, the company secured a lease for 486,600 square feet of office space from Uber in San Francisco’s Mission Bay. However, it’s noteworthy that some employees have transitioned from OpenAI to Google, suggesting that a talent competition is beginning to emerge between the two companies.
