"Tulloch is one of Silicon Valley's cutting-edge AI researchers who have lately attracted astonishingly lucrative job offers from legacy tech companies trying to lure them away from their AI-native startups. In Tulloch's case, the legacy player was Meta, which reportedly offered the young researcher $1.5 billion over at least six years to leave his current post at Mira Murati's Thinking Machines Lab."
"In many instances, the fat figures worked: Individual targets have been poached and entire startups have been purchased. But what's been more surprising are the reports that when Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other tech royalty knocked on some doors, including Tulloch's, AI researchers sometimes said, "No, thanks." CEOs of newer companies and established firms- Dario Amodei at Anthropic, Sam Altman at OpenAI, and Lisa Su at AMD-have even said they will not match poaching offers to keep their talented employees."
"So do we need to rethink the power of cash in negotiations? Is the era of the superstar employee over? Not exactly, say management experts. Many have been watching the AI talent race and considering what it means for CEOs of companies in other industries and of more modest means. But they do believe that while competitive compensation still matters, the AI talent wars prove that squishy concepts like culture, empathetic leadership, and collegiality are stronger forces than most"
Andrew Tulloch attracted reported multimillion- to billion-dollar offers from legacy tech firms seeking AI talent, including a reported $1.5 billion offer from Meta and confirmed billion-scale packages and $100 million signing bonuses. Many high-value offers led to hires or acquisitions, yet several targeted researchers declined recruitment overtures. Leaders at Anthropic, OpenAI, and AMD stated they would not match poaching offers, and some organizations kept top talent without matching pay. Meta implemented an AI hiring freeze. Management experts say competitive compensation remains relevant, but culture, empathetic leadership, and collegiality often determine retention.
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