Meta is offering multi-million pay for AI researchers, but not $100M ‘signing bonuses’

Meta is rolling out substantial multi-million-dollar compensation packages to attract AI researchers to its newly established Superintelligence Lab. However, the much-talked-about $100 million 'signing bonus' is more myth than reality, as revealed by an insider and during a leaked internal meeting. During a recent company-wide all-hands meeting, which was leaked to The Verge, Meta's executives addressed speculation surrounding the bonuses mentioned by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Meta's Chief Technology Officer, Andrew Bosworth, suggested that such substantial offers might only be extended to a select few senior leadership positions. He clarified that what was being referred to as a bonus is actually a combination of various compensation elements, rather than a one-time cash payout. Typically, technology firms reward their top leaders with significant portions of their salary in the form of restricted stock unit grants (RSUs), which are contingent on performance and tenure. A total compensation package for a senior leader that approaches $100 million over four years is certainly within the realm of possibility for Meta. Notably, many of Meta’s high-ranking executives, including Bosworth, have received annual compensation in the range of $20 million to nearly $24 million for several years. Bosworth addressed the perception created by Altman's comments, stating, “Look, you guys, the market’s hot. It’s not that hot,” implying that the market for AI talent is competitive but not to the extent that every researcher would receive such inflated offers. On the same day, Lucas Beyer, a prominent researcher specializing in computer vision AI, confirmed his move from OpenAI to Meta, along with two colleagues who previously led OpenAI’s Zurich office. Beyer took to Twitter to clarify that while they are indeed joining Meta, the rumored $100 million sign-on bonus is simply 'fake news.' Meta is strategically focusing its efforts on entertainment AI, which aligns with its existing ventures like the Quest VR headsets and the Ray-Ban and Oakley AI glasses. Despite the lack of a $100 million signing bonus, Meta continues to invest heavily in acquiring top talent in the competitive AI sector. For instance, the company recently brought on Trapit Bansal from OpenAI, known for his innovative work in AI reasoning models. Interestingly, as reported earlier, Scale's co-founder and CEO, Alexandr Wang, is set to receive a significant financial package, likely exceeding $100 million, as part of Meta's acquisition of a 49% stake in his company. The $14 billion deal is being allocated to shareholders as cash dividends, of which Wang is presumably a major beneficiary. While Meta isn't throwing around $100 million offers casually, it is clearly committed to investing substantial resources in the AI talent landscape. An investor shared with TechCrunch that an AI researcher recently turned down an $18 million offer from Meta in favor of a smaller but still lucrative opportunity at the up-and-coming AI startup, Thinking Machines Lab, led by Mira Murati.