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Sam Altman Slams Meta’s $300M Recruiting Blitz: “Distasteful” and Culture-Damaging
2 min read Sam Altman slams Meta’s $300M recruiting spree as “distasteful,” warns of “deep cultural problems,” and defends OpenAI’s mission over money. Zuck’s new AI lab just poached 11 top researchers — the talent war is on. July 02, 2025 13:29
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman fired off a pointed Slack message Monday night, calling out Meta’s aggressive recruiting tactics as “distasteful,” according to WIRED. In a passionate pitch to his team, Altman made the case for building AGI at OpenAI over chasing big checks from rivals.
The key points:
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Meta's $300M pitch fell flat: Altman claimed Meta dangled packages worth up to $300 million over four years, but still failed to land top-tier talent—settling for candidates “quite far down their list.”
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OpenAI stock has more upside: He reassured researchers that OpenAI is reviewing compensation, arguing that its equity has “much, much more upside” than Meta’s.
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Culture war in the lab: Altman warned that Meta’s recruiting playbook could lead to “deep cultural problems”, contrasting it with OpenAI’s mission-driven ethos versus what he called a “flavor of the week” mentality.
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Zuckerberg's big AI move: Just days earlier, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled Meta Superintelligence Labs with 11 high-profile hires from OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Anthropic.
Why it matters
Altman is clearly in battle mode, rallying the troops against what OpenAI’s CRO Mark Chen likened to “someone breaking into our home.” The message? Culture and purpose over mercenary paydays. But beneath the bravado lies a serious question: can OpenAI retain its edge if top researchers keep jumping ship?
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