Sam Altman Slams Meta’s AI Talent-Poaching Spree: ‘Missionaries Will Beat Mercenaries’
- Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, has publicly criticized Meta for aggressively poaching talent from his company, offering massive$100 million signing bonuses to engineers in a bid to bolster its new Superintelligence Labs.
- In a leaked memo and Slack message, Altman called Meta’s tactics “distasteful” and warned of deep cultural problems, while asserting that OpenAI’s mission-driven culture will ultimately triumph over Meta’s “mercenary” approach.
- The article explores the broader race to superintelligence between OpenAI and Meta, highlighting their differing focuses, recent struggles, and strategic moves in the AI landscape.
In the high-stakes world of artificial intelligence, a bitter rivalry is brewing between two tech giants: OpenAI and Meta. At the heart of this conflict is a talent war, with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman accusing Meta, led by Mark Zuckerberg, of poaching his company’s engineers with jaw-dropping$100 million signing bonuses. In a leaked memo to OpenAI researchers and a company-wide Slack message, as reported by Wired, Altman didn’t hold back, labeling Meta’s actions as “somewhat distasteful” and warning that such aggressive recruitment tactics could lead to “very deep cultural problems.” This clash isn’t just about individual hires—it’s a microcosm of the larger battle for AI supremacy, where mission, money, and superintelligence are all on the line.
Altman’s frustration stems from Meta’s recent efforts to build its new Superintelligence Labs, a division tasked with advancing the Llama models and developing frontier AI that could surpass human capabilities. According to reports, at least nine OpenAI employees have jumped ship to join Meta’s ranks. However, Altman was quick to downplay the impact, conceding that while a “few great people” made the move, Meta “didn’t get their top people and had to go quite far down their list” of prospects at OpenAI. This echoes his earlier comments on his brother’s podcast, where he emphasized that “none of (OpenAI’s) best people” accepted Meta’s offers. He also noted in the Slack message that Meta has been trying to recruit from OpenAI for a long time, even attempting to lure talent for high-profile roles like Chief Scientist—a position now held by Alexandr Wang, the 28-year-old co-founder of Scale AI, who joined Meta as part of a$14.3 billion deal for a 49% stake in his data-labeling startup.
At the core of Altman’s critique is a philosophical divide. “I am proud of how mission-oriented our industry is as a whole; of course, there will always be some mercenaries,” he wrote, adding with conviction that “missionaries will beat mercenaries.” OpenAI has long positioned itself as a company dedicated to ensuring AI benefits humanity, a mission Altman believes sets it apart from Meta’s cash-driven approach. Yet, some of OpenAI’s recent moves—such as shifting toward a for-profit business model and forging deals with the U.S. Department of Defense—suggest that corporate ambitions aren’t entirely absent from its playbook. The irony isn’t lost when Altman criticizes Meta for dangling cash, while simultaneously revealing in his memo that OpenAI is reassessing compensation across the board to remain competitive. As he put it, the company will be upping pay “fairly and not just for people who Meta happened to target.” He even took a jab at Meta’s long-term commitment to AI, claiming there’s “much, much more upside to OpenAI stock than Meta stock” since Meta might pivot to the “next flavor of the week” or focus on defending its social media dominance, while OpenAI remains laser-focused on AI innovation.
This talent tussle unfolds against the backdrop of a broader race to achieve superintelligence, a goal both companies have explicitly set their sights on. Meta, originally born as Facebook, has a sprawling portfolio that includes a dominant grip on social media and a significant investment in virtual reality since its 2021 rebranding. While it’s been dabbling in AI since around 2013, Meta has struggled to keep pace in the post-ChatGPT era, lagging behind competitors like OpenAI and Google. Its recent missteps—such as open-sourcing models that allowed others like DeepSeek to create more advanced derivatives, underperforming Llama models, and AI chatbots gaining a questionable reputation—have only compounded its challenges. Additionally, Meta has seen an exodus of top engineers, making its aggressive recruitment tactics all the more critical. Yet, Zuckerberg remains optimistic, stating in a memo that Meta is “uniquely positioned” to deliver superintelligence thanks to its vast financial resources for compute power, experience in scaling products to billions of users, expertise in AI hardware like smart glasses, and a structure that supports bold risks.
OpenAI, on the other hand, has been singularly focused on advancing artificial general intelligence since its founding in 2015. In January, the company declared superintelligence as its primary goal for the year, and just last month, Altman revealed they’ve “recently built systems that are smarter than people in many ways.” To maintain its edge, OpenAI is deepening ties with Big Tech giants like Google Cloud, Apple, and Microsoft, forming strategic partnerships that bolster its position in this heated race. Altman’s confidence in OpenAI’s trajectory is palpable in his memo, where he envisions his team working “day after day, year after year, figuring out how to do what we do better than anyone else,” long after Meta might shift its focus elsewhere.
What emerges from this clash is a tale of contrasting visions. On one side, OpenAI champions a mission-driven ethos, even as it navigates the complexities of corporate growth and partnerships. On the other, Meta wields its financial might and diverse tech portfolio to carve out a space in the AI frontier, despite recent setbacks. Altman’s assertion that “missionaries will beat mercenaries” may carry weight, but the reality is that both companies are playing a high-stakes game where talent, innovation, and resources are equally critical. As the battle for superintelligence intensifies, the industry watches closely—not just to see who builds the smarter AI, but to understand what kind of culture, values, and vision will shape the future of this transformative technology. Will it be the missionaries or the mercenaries who ultimately prevail? Only time will tell, but for now, the war of words and wallets rages on.