Zuckerberg Says Autonomy & Access to Compute Power, Not Pay, Drives AI Talent to Meta

Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg has refuted claims that top AI researchers are joining the company solely for lucrative compensation, telling The Information that access to vast compute resources and the freedom to build new infrastructure are the primary attractions.

While acknowledging that competitive salaries are a factor, Zuckerberg said reports of nine-figure signing bonuses have been “inaccurate,” and that recruits value having more GPUs per researcher, which provides the capacity to experiment at scale and a strategic advantage in advancing frontier AI.

Zuckerberg added that many scientists relish the opportunity to “start from a clean slate,” crafting a new lab environment unencumbered by legacy systems and working closely with a small, focused team.

This pitch has fueled Meta’s aggressive hiring push, which last year lured key talent from OpenAI, including Lucas Beyer, Alexander Kolesnikov, and Xiaohua Zhai, and saw the company invest $14.3 billion for a 49 percent stake in Scale AI to secure additional tooling and expertise.

With its newly formed “Superintelligence Labs” under the leadership of former Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang, Meta is now courting further heavyweights such as Daniel Gross and Nat Friedman, underscoring Zuckerberg’s belief that mission and autonomy, more than paychecks, will drive the next wave of breakthroughs in artificial intelligence.

Meta’s Hiring Spree

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently claimed that Meta offered signing bonuses of up to $100 million to entice key personnel from OpenAI, a move he described as “crazy” and indicative of escalating competitiveness within the AI industry.

Meta “poached” three OpenAI researchers Lucas Beyer, Alexander Kolesnikov, and Xiaohua Zhai who were responsible for opening OpenAI’s office in Zurich, Switzerland, last year.

Meta also recently paid $14.3 billion for a 49% stake in Scale AI, an AI startup that helps firms build their own AI models. Alexandr Wang, former CEO of Scale AI, has stepped down to lead Meta’s new “superintelligence” section.

The social media giant is now focusing on recruiting Daniel Gross, co-founder and CEO of SSI, and Nat Friedman, former CEO of GitHub, to strengthen its new Superintelligence Labs, which is overseen by Alexandr Wang.