Mark Chen, the chief research officer at OpenAI, has sent a forceful memo to staff promising to compete with social giant Meta in the war for top research talent. The move comes days after Mark Zuckerberg successfully recruited four senior researchers from OpenAI to join Meta’s superintelligence lab.
Chen wrote that he feels “visceral pain” over the loss of talent and assured employees that they haven’t been idle, instead working around the clock with Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, to persuade those who received offers to stay. He emphasized that OpenAI is offering more competitive compensation packages and creative ways to recognize top talent.
However, Chen also stated that he has high personal standards of fairness and won’t compromise on these values in order to retain staff. This stance contrasts with Meta’s reported aggressive tactics, including $100 million signing bonuses for some OpenAI employees.
Chen acknowledged that the competition for top AI researchers is heating up, but stressed that OpenAI needs to stay focused on its main goal: achieving artificial general intelligence. He warned against getting “too caught up” in short-term comparisons with competitors and urged staff to prioritize this objective above all else.
OpenAI’s leadership appears to be taking Meta’s efforts seriously, with multiple leaders expressing support for Chen’s approach and encouraging employees to reach out if they receive pressure from Meta. Despite the intense workload, OpenAI is giving its staff time off next week to recharge before resuming work.
Source: https://www.wired.com/story/openai-meta-leadership-talent-rivalry