Mark Chen Openai’s chief research officer sent a strong memorandum to staff on Saturday and promised to be straightforward with the social giant for top research talent in the war. The memorandum came a few days after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg successfully recruited four senior researchers from the company to Meta’s Super Smart Labs.
“I feel an inner feeling now, as if someone breaks into our home and steals things,” Chen wrote. “Please believe we are not idle.”
Chen assured that he is working with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and other leader of the company, Sam Altman, to “talk 24/7 with those who have an offer,” adding: “We are more proactive than ever, we are recalibrating, and we are looking for innovative ways to identify and reward top talent.”
Still, even if the Openai leadership seems desperate to retain its staff, Chen said he has a “high standard of personal fairness” and wants to keep that in mind. He wrote: “While I will fight for each of you, I will not do this at the fair price to others.”
The news came when senior AI researchers were heating up in Silicon Valley. According to comments made on the podcast with his brother Jack Altman, Zuckerberg’s approach is particularly offensive in his approach, offering some Openai employees $100 million in signing bonuses. OpenAI’s multiple sources, direct knowledge of the offer confirms this number. According to the Wall Street Journal, the chief executive of the Führer also contacted potential recruits in person. “For the past month, Meta has been actively building their new AI efforts and has repeatedly (and mostly unsuccessful) attempted to recruit our strongest talents with a competitive package,” Chen wrote on Slack.
Sources close to META’s efforts confirmed that the company has greatly improved its research recruitment and focused on talent from Openai and Google. A source told Wired that as well as everyone knows, although it is also a top competitor, it is considered not very suitable for meta-culture. “They don’t necessarily expand the band, but for top talent, the sky is the limit.”
Neither OpenAI nor META responded to requests for comment.
Chen’s notes include news from seven other research leaders of the company, where they wrote notes to staff, encouraging them to stay with obvious efforts. One leader of the research team encouraged employees to reach out when they received Meta’s proposal: “If they put pressure on you, or make a ridiculous blasting offer, tell them to back down, which is embarrassing for those who might be the most important decision. Cable is not named leaders because they are not C-Suite Execucie.
