Meta’s Multi-Million Dollar AI Offers: Fact vs. Viral Fiction
29th June 2025, Kathmandu
In a move that highlights the heated competition for top talent in the artificial intelligence sector, Meta is making aggressive financial offers to lure elite AI researchers to its new superintelligence lab.
Meta’s Multi-Million Dollar AI
However, recent viral claims of “$100 million signing bonuses” are being clarified as exaggerated, with the company emphasizing comprehensive, long-term compensation packages.
During a recent internal all-hands meeting, Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth addressed rumors that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman fueled. Bosworth reportedly stated that while multi-million dollar pay packages are on the table, the figures discussed are not straightforward sign-on bonuses. Instead, these are extensive compensation deals, often heavily weighted with Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) that vest over time, tying the researcher’s compensation to their tenure and performance.
The Nuance of a $100 Million Package
For the most senior AI leaders, Meta’s compensation could indeed reach up to $100 million, but this would be a total value over four years, not an upfront cash bonus. For context, Meta executives like Bosworth have historically received annual compensation ranging from $20 million to $24 million, primarily in RSUs.
Bosworth pushed back on Altman’s portrayal, saying, “Altman was suggesting that we’re doing this for every single person. Look, you guys, the market’s hot. It’s not that hot.” This statement underscores the fact that these top-tier offers are reserved for a very small, elite group of individuals.
High-Profile Hires and Public Denials
The intense hiring push has already resulted in some notable talent moving from rival companies to Meta. AI researcher Lucas Beyer, along with two colleagues, recently left OpenAI’s Zurich office to join Meta. Addressing the swirling rumors directly, Beyer tweeted, “Yes, we will be joining Meta. No, we did not get 100M sign-on, that’s fake news.”
This public statement from a newly hired researcher confirms the structured nature of the compensation and debunks the myth of massive cash bonuses.
Another high-profile acquisition for Meta’s AI division is Trapit Bansal, a researcher known for his work on reasoning models, who joined Meta after working at OpenAI since 2022.
A Competitive Landscape
While Meta is offering highly competitive compensation, it is not always winning the talent war. One investor told TechCrunch that an AI researcher turned down an $18 million offer from Meta to join Mira Murati’s startup, Thinking Machines Lab.
This illustrates that factors beyond sheer compensation, such as mission and company culture, are still significant draws for top talent.
The scale of Meta’s investment in AI is further demonstrated by its acquisition of a 49% stake in Scale AI for $14 billion, a deal in which Scale’s co-founder and CEO, Alexandr Wang, is expected to receive over $100 million as part of shareholder dividends.
This deal, while a corporate acquisition rather than a standard employment package, highlights the immense financial commitment Meta is making to dominate the AI space.
In essence, Meta is spending heavily to secure top AI minds, but its strategy is built on long-term performance and loyalty through structured compensation packages, not one-time, upfront cash windfalls. The battle for AI talent continues to intensify, with Meta betting on its investment in entertainment-driven AI innovation, such as VR and smart glasses, to stay ahead.
“From the experiences of global AI innovators and the developing ecosystem in Nepal, the key lesson for Nepalese AI innovators, entrepreneurs, practitioners, researchers, and startups is to focus on a balanced and localized approach. While Meta and other global giants can afford to offer multimillion-dollar packages for top talent, the AI community in Nepal must leverage its unique strengths, such as a talented workforce and a growing interest in technology. The focus should be on building a strong local foundation by developing products over service-based companies, addressing the need for high-quality data in local languages, and creating solutions that tackle specific challenges in sectors like agriculture, healthcare, and education. Success stories like FuseMachines and local startups demonstrate that with a disciplined, product-focused mindset and strategic use of technology, it is possible to innovate and thrive despite challenges like limited funding and infrastructure, highlighting that smart, targeted innovation and community-driven research are more impactful than a simple race for cash and talent. The recently introduced National AI Policy 2081, while ambitious, needs a concrete implementation roadmap, which provides an opportunity for the local community to collaborate with the government and academia to build a robust and ethical AI ecosystem.”
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