In recent months, Meta has been actively hiring top AI talent, drawing attention with rumors of huge signing bonuses—some reports even claimed offers of up to $100 million. But that may not be true.
Lucas Beyer, an OpenAI researcher who’s preparing to join Meta, responded to the buzz on social media, calling the $100 million bonus claim “fake news.” He also confirmed that two more OpenAI team members, Alexander Kolesnikov and Xiaohua Zhai, are also making the switch to Meta with him.
The speculation began after OpenAI CEO Sam Altman claimed in a podcast that Meta was aggressively trying to lure his team by making “huge offers.” However, Meta’s Chief Technology Officer, Andrew Bosworth, rejected that claim, saying Altman was “being dishonest” and that such offers were not the norm. “Yes, the market is competitive, but it’s not to that extreme,” Bosworth added.
Meta is currently working to build a new AI division called Superintelligence Labs, bringing in fresh talent and investing in AI infrastructure. CPO Chris Cox also emphasized that Meta’s AI strategy will differ from competitors by focusing more on fun, social connection, and everyday use, rather than productivity tools like email drafting.
While Meta has made bold moves in AI—including hiring Alexandr Wang from Scale AI to lead its new team—the company still faces strong competition from Google and OpenAI in the race to lead AI innovation.
