Meta is doubling down on its artificial intelligence ambitions, intensifying its hiring spree by luring a growing number of researchers from rival OpenAI. Over the past few weeks, Meta has quietly poached several high-profile AI scientists from OpenAI, including Lucas Beyer, Alexander Kolesnikov, and Xiaohua Zhai, all based at OpenAI’s Zurich office. Trapit Bansal, a key figure in OpenAI’s research team, also recently joined Meta. But this is not it. The Information revealed that four additional researchers, Shengjia Zhao, Jiahui Yu, Shuchao Bi, and Hongyu Ren, have also made the switch to Meta, adding further fuel to speculation about aggressive recruitment tactics.

This flurry of departures from OpenAI has drawn attention from across the tech industry, not least because of a viral claim made by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman that Meta was dangling signing bonuses worth up to $100 million to attract top talent. While Altman suggested that none of OpenAI’s “best people” had accepted the offer, employees are moving to Meta in just a blink.

At an all-hands meeting held shortly after Altman’s remarks went public, Meta’s Chief Technology Officer Andrew Bosworth addressed employee questions head-on. According to The Verge, Bosworth pushed back strongly, accusing Altman of dishonesty and exaggeration. “He’s known to stretch the truth,” Bosworth said, adding that while Meta might offer substantial packages for certain roles, the idea of a blanket $100 million sign-on was “wildly misleading.”

Bosworth clarified that only a “very, very small number” of extremely senior individuals might receive compensation packages in that ballpark—and even then, it wouldn’t take the form of a straightforward signing bonus. “It’s far more complex than a one-off cheque,” he said.

Adding credibility to Bosworth’s rebuttal, the researchers at the centre of the controversy—Beyer, Kolesnikov, and Zhai—took to X (formerly Twitter) to confirm they had joined Meta, but dismissed the $100 million figure as “fake news.” Their collective denial further underscores the murky nature of compensation disclosures in Silicon Valley’s high-stakes AI race.

The timing of these hires is particularly notable. Meta recently unveiled its Llama 4 family of AI models, which received a lukewarm reception compared to expectations reportedly set by CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The company’s AI strategy has faced criticism, especially concerning benchmark transparency and performance metrics. In this context, the addition of elite researchers from OpenAI may be a strategic move to bolster Meta’s AI credibility and future releases.

Zuckerberg himself appears to be taking a hands-on approach. Reports suggest he has personally reached out to AI professionals with lucrative offers and is spearheading efforts to bring in talent from across the sector. During the internal meeting, Bosworth hinted that more high-level recruits from OpenAI were on the way, though he declined to reveal further details.

In a separate push to expand its AI footprint, The Wall Street Journal reported that Meta has invested $14 billion in Scale AI, a startup founded by Alexandr Wang.

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