Vying for AI talent: OpenAI, Google, xAI shell out millions

The contest in Silicon Valley to dominate artificial intelligence is playing out on a new court: superstar researchers.

- REUTERS

While the scramble to attract top talent and keep them happy has always been a hallmark of the tech industry, since ChatGPT launched in late 2022, recruiting has escalated to professional athlete levels, a dozen people who have been involved in recruiting AI researchers told Reuters.

The AI labs approach hiring like a game of chess, said Ariel Herbert-Voss, CEO of cybersecurity startup RunSybil and a former OpenAI researcher who entered the talent fight after launching his own company. They want to move as fast as possible, so they are willing to pay a lot for candidates with specialized and complementary expertise, much like the game pieces. They are like, do I have enough rooks? Enough knights? Firms including OpenAI and Google, eager to get or stay ahead in the race to create the best AI models, court these so-called individual contributors whose work can make or break firms.