Millions for talented AI researchers, OpenAI, xAI, Google & Co.
The still young AI sector needs qualified employees, but they are few and far between. That's why the battle for talent is leading to salaries in the millions.
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Employees in Silicon Valley have long been among the best paid, but the AI companies desperately looking for talent are pushing salaries up significantly. People who can research artificial intelligence (AI) and develop high-level language models are rare, so companies are competing and outbidding each other for the right people. This is now being compared to professional athletes.
It is often assumed that AI will replace jobs in the IT sector, but it will also create new ones. And some of these jobs are extremely well paid. For example, the best AI researchers at companies such as OpenAI can earn more than 10 million US dollars, writes Reuters. In addition, some of the first ChatGPT developers have already left the company to set up their projects. This has intensified the battle for talent, with some AI companies having to increase salaries to retain skilled employees.
High recruitment costs for top talent
A former AI researcher at OpenAI compares the hiring process of AI companies to chess. “They want to move forward as quickly as possible and are therefore willing to pay a lot for candidates with specialized and complementary expertise, similar to the game pieces,” explains Ariel Herbert-Voss, founder and CEO of cybersecurity startup RunSybil, which is also looking for new employees. “They ask themselves: Do I have enough towers? Enough jumpers?”
The young AI companies are also competing with large companies such as Microsoft and Google, which want to expand their AI expertise. Noam Brown, for example, reports on impressive recruitment attempts when he was looking for a new job in 2023: lunch with Google founder Sergey Brin, poker with OpenAI boss Sam Altman and a visit from an investor by private jet. Elon Musk himself is also said to be on the phone with candidates who are interesting for his AI company xAI.
Compensation far above average
Some interested parties are also interested in the company providing them with resources for their work. In return, they accept less money. However, this does not prevent many companies from offering millions to highly qualified employees in the form of salaries, bonuses, and shares. For example, OpenAI has offered employees interested in joining former chief scientist Ilya Sutskever and his new company SSI bonuses of $2 million and an increase in equity stakes to $20 million or more if they stay with OpenAI.
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Other AI researchers at OpenAI have been courted by software company Eleven Labs, so OpenAI has promised them bonuses of at least a million dollars to keep them. The most talented AI researchers can earn over 10 million dollars a year at OpenAI, according to sources. Google's AI research lab DeepMind even offers the best AI researchers 20 million dollars a year, according to reports. By comparison, the best engineers at major technology companies receive an average annual salary of 281,000 dollars, plus company shares of 261,000 dollars.
Side entrants in AI companies
As AI is still a fairly new field, companies are also looking for talent slightly outside of IT. For example, Anthropic is reported to have hired AI researchers with a background in theoretical physics. Other AI companies are employing people with a background in quantum computing.
Sébastien Bubeck, who left a leadership role in AI research at Microsoft last year to join OpenAI, reports talented mathematicians in his new team. “We are currently seeing an influx of talent from all areas involved in AI,” he explains. “And some of these people are very, very smart and are making a difference.”
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