The CEO of OpenAI, Sam Altman, has recently revealed that Meta, led by Mark Zuckerberg, has been attempting to lure away his top artificial intelligence experts by offering extravagant signing bonuses of $100 million each. This move comes as the competition for talent in the rapidly growing AI sector heats up.

During a podcast interview with his brother, Altman discussed these offers, although Meta has not officially confirmed them. OpenAI, known for developing ChatGPT, stated that they have nothing further to add beyond Altman's statements.

Altman expressed his concerns about Meta's recruitment strategy, emphasizing the focus on high upfront compensation rather than the work and mission of the company. He stated that none of OpenAI's key team members have accepted these offers so far.

Meta recently announced a $15 billion initiative aimed at achieving computerized 'super-intelligence', surpassing human capabilities in all tasks. The company also acquired a significant stake in the startup Scale AI for $29 billion, founded by 28-year-old programmer Alexandr Wang who joined Meta as part of the deal.

The competition for AI talent has intensified, with reports of Meta losing candidates to competitors despite offering $2 million annual salaries. Another report highlighted that Anthropic, an AI company backed by Amazon and Google, founded by former OpenAI and DeepMind engineers, has been attracting top talent from its rivals.

As the race for human-level AI capabilities continues, tech companies are investing heavily in talent acquisition and hardware. Estimates suggest that $1.8 trillion could be spent on computing power by 2030, exceeding Australia's annual GDP.

Some firms are acquiring entire companies to secure top talent, such as Meta's Scale AI deal and Google's purchase of Character.AI for $2.7 billion. Altman expressed skepticism about Meta's AI ambitions, questioning their innovation capabilities.

Despite significant investments in AI, Altman speculated that achieving super intelligence may not have as profound an impact as expected. He believes that AI's most significant contribution in the next decade could be in discovering new scientific breakthroughs.