'Fake News:' Former Engineer Joining Meta Refutes Sam Altman's $100M Golden Pass Accusation To Poach OpenAI Talent

OpenAI engineers Lucas Beyer, Alexander Kolesnikov and Xiaohua Zhai have dismissed rumors that they each received a $100 million signing bonus to join Meta Platforms Inc. META.What Happened: The trio, who also set up OpenAI’s Zurich office last year, confirmed their transition to Meta. However, they denied assertions made by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman about the substantial signing bonus through a post on X. Beyer termed the news as “fake.”The three engineers, who joined OpenAI in December 2024 after departing from Google GOOG GOOGL DeepMind, are transitioning to Meta amid fierce competition for AI talent. Despite the rumors, no senior executive at Meta Platforms Inc. META has received a $100 million payout over the past three years, according to the company’s financial filings. The highest compensation last year was awarded to COO Javier Olivan, totaling $25.5 million. Last year, the median total annual compensation for all Meta employees, excluding Mark Zuckerberg, was $417,400, reported Fortune. Why It Matters: Meta is assembling a top-tier artificial intelligence team called the "superintelligence team," consisting of 50 experts. CEO Mark Zuckerberg is personally leading the effort to position Meta as a major rival to other tech giants in the AI space.As a result, Meta’s aggressive recruitment strategy has been making headlines recently. Earlier this month, Altman had characterized the offers from Meta as “crazy,” claiming on a podcast with brother Jack Altman that the social media behemoth was offering $100 million signing bonuses to attract OpenAI’s top talent. The OpenAI CEO also stated, "I'm really happy that, at least so far, none of our best people have decided to take him up on that."Meta’s CTO, Andrew Bosworth, then revealed that OpenAI is actively countering Meta’s lucrative job offers to retain its top employees. This indicates a fierce battle for talent in the AI industry, with both companies vying for the best minds in the field.Meanwhile, Meta’s stock has been performing well, with analysts predicting a potential rise to $800. This comes after several significant announcements from the tech company, leading to substantial increases in price target estimates from Wall Street analysts.On a year-to-date basis, shares of Mets jumped 21.17%, as per Benzinga Pro READ MORE: Mark Zuckerberg’s AI Dreams Hit WhatsApp Speed Bump As OpenAI, Perplexity Challenge Meta On Its Own Turf: Report