Meta reportedly offered AI expert Abel a $1.25 billion deal spanning over four years, equivalent to a yearly salary of $312 million. Remarkably, despite this astronomical income, the individual allegedly declined the offer.
In a move that highlights the competitive landscape in the AI industry, Meta has offered $100 million signing bonuses to technical staff at OpenAI, according to Sam Altman, the CEO of the AI research company. This offer is significantly higher than the $1.25 billion contract offered to Daniel Francis, the founder of Abel, a startup that uses AI to build police reports from body cam footage and dispatch call data.
The offer, equivalent to $25 million per month, is an example of extremely lucrative employment contracts in the AI field. Sam Altman revealed the disclosure last month, adding to the evidence of such lucrative offers in the industry.
Roon, an AI researcher believed to have previously worked at OpenAI, stated that he has heard of higher offers being made. In a tweet, Daniel Francis, the founder of Abel, shared the offer on social media, expressing disbelief at the remuneration.
Sam Altman explained the high offers as being similar to an "acquihire," where a company buys a startup for its talented employees and their intellectual property. Despite the staggering offer, the potential hire declined the offer, implying that even in the AI era, intellectual property may still reside in people's heads.
Interestingly, this is not the first time Daniel Francis has made headlines. In 2023, he gained internet notoriety by pretending to be a disgruntled Twitter worker fired by Elon Musk and fooling multiple outlets into believing his story. After the hoax, Daniel was hired by Musk to join the company.
Meanwhile, Sam Altman expressed happiness that none of OpenAI's best people have accepted the offers from Meta. The offer by Meta to poach OpenAI technical staff adds to the testament of the high demand for AI talent and the value placed on intellectual property in the AI era.
