Why Meta’s AI Talent War Makes Sense—But Mission Still Matters More Than Money

Why Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis Calls Meta's AI Poaching 'Rational'

Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind, has described Meta’s aggressive hiring of AI talent from competitors as a logical move. Speaking candidly, he pointed out that Meta is currently behind in the race to develop frontier artificial intelligence and their strategy reflects an attempt to close that gap.

On the Lex Fridman podcast, Hassabis said, “Meta right now are not at the frontier. Maybe they'll manage to get back there. And it's probably rational, what they're doing from their perspective—because they're behind and they need to do something.”

Meta's recent recruitment push has included compensation packages reportedly reaching as high as $200 million per year for top AI researchers, signaling their commitment to regaining leadership.

Zuckerberg’s Talent Push After Llama Setbacks

Earlier this year, Meta launched its Superintelligence Labs, headed by Alexandr Wang, former CEO of Scale AI, and Nat Friedman, ex-CEO of GitHub. This move follows a lukewarm reception to Meta’s Llama model releases in April.

Mark Zuckerberg has taken a hands-on approach to assembling this team, attracting notable AI researchers including former OpenAI talents Shengjia Zhao, Shuchao Bi, Jiahui Yu, and Hongyu Ren.

Mission vs. Money in AI Talent Acquisition

While acknowledging the rationale behind Meta’s hiring tactics, Hassabis emphasized that not all AI professionals are motivated solely by financial gain. He explained that those truly dedicated to advancing artificial general intelligence (AGI) often prioritize mission and impact over money.

“The people that are real believers in the mission of AGI and what it can do—and understand the consequences, both good and bad—are mostly doing it to be at the frontier, so they can help influence how that plays out and steward the technology safely into the world,” he said.

He added, “There are more important things than just money. Of course, one has to pay people market rates—and those continue to go up.”

How AI Compensation Has Soared

Recent data from federal visa filings shows AI salaries have escalated dramatically. OpenAI’s technical staff earn an average of $292,115, with top roles paying as much as $530,000. Anthropic offers an average of $387,500 for technical hires, while Thinking Machines Lab, led by Mira Murati, reportedly offers salaries up to $500,000.

Hassabis contrasted this with DeepMind’s early days: “I remember when we were starting out back in 2010, I didn't even pay myself for a couple of years because there wasn't enough money. We couldn't raise any money. These days, interns are being paid the amount that we raised as our first entire seed round.”

This rise in compensation reflects the fierce competition for AI talent and the increasing value placed on expertise in this field.

Views from Other AI Leaders

Benjamin Mann, co-founder of Anthropic, echoed Hassabis’s perspective. He noted that AI professionals often weigh mission impact heavily in their decisions.

“They get these offers and then they say, ‘Well, of course I’m not going to leave because my best-case scenario at Meta is that we make money, and my best case at Anthropic is we affect the future of humanity,’” Mann said.

For executives and strategists, understanding these motivations is key to building teams that balance competitive compensation with a compelling mission.

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